Brotherhood
by RisingStorm15
Summary: One shots of our favorite Thunderbirds and the lengths they go for their family, because really, who doesn't need some more Thunderbird fanfics?
1. Priorities

_**Hey guys! So I just recently discovered Thunderbirds are Go, and I was like, 'where have you been all my life?'. Anyway, unfortunately I don't own any of the characters, they belong to the awesome producers of the show. I also just want to note that these one shots will likely be based on prompts, prompts that you guys send in to me based now hat you want to see. So enjoy.**_

 **Summary: Scott is a big brother, first and foremost, but sometimes it takes a little brother to remind him that he too, is human.**

Scott Tracy's first priority had always been his brothers.

From the moment he was brought to the hospital to see his first baby brother John, he found a primal urge awakening within him. The moment John's bright blue eyes opened and his brother clasped his finger in his tiny little hands Scott found himself realizing that the force within him was his love for a brother.

It was the same with the other three brothers who followed.

Every one of them caused the same swell of emotion within him, and even though they had all grown in to their own and had taken on mature mindsets, to him they would always be his baby brothers.

And as he stood watching his brothers curled up on the sofa asleep the same feeling returned in force.

" Still sick I see," a familiar voice chuckled from behind him.

Whirling around, Scott smiled up at the hovering image of his closest brother.

" Yeah, just be glad you're up there and not down here in the infection zone," Scott replied with a small smirk.

John rolled his eyes, a small snort escaping him.

" Let me guess, they've turned you in to their nursemaid for the week, and of course since you're a pushover you're catering to their every beck and call," John commented knowingly.

A small snort of laughter was enough to prove John's statement.

It was true. All week Scott had been fetching art supplies for a coughing Virgil, games to occupy a sniffling Gordon and books for Alan to read in between bouts of fever. All three had been involved in a rescue of some sick sailors off of a large cargo ship out to see and since their return had boasted an impressive display of the flu.

Grandma Tracy did her best, but apparently Scott was the only one they wanted to cook and care for them. Scott understood the cooking part perfectly, after all, his brothers were already sick without Grandma's cooking making things worse.

" You know I don't mind John, I'd do it for you too and you know it," Scott murmured a moment later, watching his sleeping brothers with a fond smile.

John's amusement died away at his older brother's heartfelt words and he found himself reminiscing about the days of his childhood when all he needed in life was an older brother to be his guardian.

" I know. Just make sure you don't burn yourself out, what with all the rescues you've been doing on top of your nursemaid duties," John replied warmly.

Scott sent him an appreciative glance for his worries before the two of them lapsed in to silence, content to just watch their younger siblings at peace.

Their silence was shattered moments later by an obnoxiously loud beeping from john's console.

" A rescue?" Scott inquired.

John cast his gaze down to where his console would be, obviously looking at the alert being brought in.

" Apparently some climbers Yellowstone national park were injured in a small rockslide and there's a bad storm coming. They're requesting aid from international rescue to get to them in time," John informed, casting his older brother a small look of concern.

" You think you can go alone? You're already exhausted from the last few missions," he added anxiously.

Scott held up a hand to stall any more excuses for why he shouldn't go.

" I'll be fine," he assured. "Thunderbird One is go". 

When Scott returned home hours later there was work to be done.

Grandma Tracy and Brains had apparently been hiding symptoms and were both exhausted and practically dead on their feet.

After having forced them to go and lie down in their rooms and delivered medicine to all who resided in the household, he found himself dreaming of a warm shower and his own comfortable bed.

A small wail from the living room had him shaking off that notion and swiftly jogging in to the shared space.

Both Virgil and Gordon were fast asleep on one couch, legs intertwined in a show of brotherly comfort. Alan, however, was coughing weakly and trying to sit up. Tears were slowly leaking form his baby blue eyes at the painful chesty coughs emitting from his sore throat.

Rushing to his side, John was immediately supporting his youngest brother through his coughing and then lowering him back down in to his nest of blankets.

" You okay Allie?" Scott asked, placing a palm on his brother's warm forehead.

" My throat hurts Scotty, I hate coughing when my chest hurts," Alan whined, teary blue eyes seeking comfort from his brother's.

" I know you do buddy, here, drink some of the water I left you, we don't want you becoming dehydrated," Scott reassured, supporting Alan as he drink half the glass.

With a small sigh Alan snuggled back down in to his blankets and closed his eyes, apparently deciding to try and sleep again.

The stress and worry he felt for his brothers had him dragging through his hair, and exhausted sigh emitting from his throat.

The darkness of the room was soothing and even standing up he could feel his eyelids trying to close.

The sudden appearance of his younger brother John's holographic projection had him blinking harshly to make himself more aware.

" Hey John, what's up?" He asked, clearing his throat to stop his voice from coming out to wrecked.

John glared at him suspiciously before he gestured at his different surroundings.

" I'm just calling to let you know that I'm almost home, the space elevator is just about touching down now," John informed.

Instantly Scott was alert, a myriad of thoughts flashing through his tired mind.

Was his brother sick too and in need of some TLC? Was John in trouble? Did someone need something and call his younger brother while Scott was away? Who was monitoring for incoming transmissions if John wasn't up on five?

" Everything okay?" He asked.

" We'll see in a moment," John answered tersely before his transmission blinked out.

What did his younger brother mean that? Something definitely had to be wrong if John wasn't giving straight answers.

A moment later he found his thoughts interrupted by his red headed brother stalking in to the room, suit still intact and blue eyes filled with determination.

" You, Scott Tracy, are going to bed," John stated firmly, using his shoulder to lightly shove Scott in the direction of their rooms.

" What?" Scott asked in surprise.

John's gaze hardened and he pointed to Scott's room down the hallway.

" You. Bed. Now. I've been watching you run yourself to the ground all week and now it's my turn to be the big brother around here while you get some rest. You'll be no good to anyone if you don't get some sleep".

Scott found his tired and aching body unable to protest as his equally tall younger brother steered him to his bedroom and shoved him on to his bed before throwing a pair of flannel pajamas in his direction.

" I'll be back in five minutes to check on you and if you aren't in that bed and trying to get some decent sleep then so help me I'll shove some sleeping meds down your throat and make you sleep," John ordered sternly before shutting the door softly behind him with a click.

Exactly five minutes later John stuck his head around the side of the door in to Scott's darkened room and found his older brother deeply asleep on his soft mattress. Smirking fondly, John pulled the blankets up over his brother who apparently had decided to fall asleep before he could bother tucking himself in.

Shaking his head softly he made his way back out to the living room at the sound of a small voice calling his older brother's name.

" Scotty!" Gordon called out in a small voice.

John entered the room to the sight of his three younger brothers awake and huddled together under a comforter, Virgil pressing Gordon and Alan to his sides as they cuddled against his warm bulk.

" Sorry, Scott's finally getting some sleep, but I'm here," John announced as he came up behind the couch.

" Johnny!" Alan squeaked happily at the sound of his older brother's voice.

John smiled as he ruffled Alan's blonde hair affectionately.

" Hey squirt".

Pouting cutely at his nickname, Alan pressed himself closer to a concerned Virgil, who gazed out at his immediate older brother with tired brown eyes.

" Is Scott sick?"

John chuckled softly as he rearranged the comforter to better cover it's young occupants beneath.

" Yeah, he's exhausted himself this week and by the looks of things managed to catch on to the flu craze like everyone else. Now Gordon, what was it you wanted Scott to do?" John inquired warmly.

Gordon blushed slightly and he and his brothers shared a small glance.

" We were hoping that Scott would make soup. Grandma said she would and we were hoping Scott would make his soup instead so we didn't get fed Grandma's awful cooking".

John chuckled softly.

" I may not be Scott Tracy, but I've been told I can make a pretty good soup myself. How about it?"

The grinning faces answered that question, and soon John found himself dishing up chicken and noodle soup to every member of the house.

By the suddenly hungry looks on his younger brother's faces as they rapidly shoveled his soup in to their mouths they were enjoying it.

John gently awoke Scott, grinning gently at the sleepy blue eyes that soon stared back at him.

" Sit up and eat some soup before you go back to sleep, I doubt you've eaten much lately".

Scott nodded and sat up with a wince at the ache in his muscles. Accepting the warm soup bowl he suddenly found his mouth watering in hunger. John sat down on the edge of the bed with small sigh, watching his brother raise the spoon to his lips.

" I forget the last time I tasted your cooking," Scott murmured between mouthfuls.

" Oh I believe it was the strawberry waffle venture last holiday season," John recalled with a small laugh.

Snorting with laughter at the thought of that disastrous morning Scott sipped a spoonful of his soup before humming in pleasure at the taste.

" Thank the heavens no one has died this time," Scott chuckled weakly.

" Hey! Virgil only almost died from my waffles," John retorted, clambering to his feet again with the intention of continuing the rounds.

A warm hand clasped around his forearm stopped him short and he turned to face Scott curiously.

" Thank you John," Scott murmured gratefully.

Clasping his brother's hand for a moment, John cast him a small smile.

" You may be the most devoted big brother in the world but sometimes it's time for a little brother to step in for a while. You may be a Tracy, but you're still human Scott. You take care of us all the time, let me take care of you for once".

Silence reigned in the darkened bedroom for a few moments.

" I love you John".

" I know".


	2. Strawberry Waffles part one

_**Hey Thunderbirds fans. When I posted the first one shot I received a number of comments asking me to write about the strawberry waffle incident I mentioned in Priorities. So here you have it! Just reminding you guys that these one shots are totally dependent on your comments and prompts. Enjoy!**_

If there was one thing the Tracy's loved about John it was his cooking skills.

Even Grandma Tracy had to admit that her red haired grandson had skill when it came to cooking family breakfasts, even if she would never say so out loud.

While they had all said their teary farewells to John before he left on the space elevator for his first ever space monitor shift, the knew what his departure would mean.

Breakfast was not the same without John.

No more beautifully prepared meals, no more cups of coffee waiting on the table for when they each shambled out of their bedrooms in the early morning, and importantly, no more strawberry waffles.

It was with eager anticipation that Jeff Tracy waited in the hangar as the sun was setting, watching as the space elevator's hydraulics hissed and its landing gear deployed.

The entire family waited alongside him, little Alan bouncing up and down on the spot in excitement. An orange banner was held between a grinning Virgil and Scott which read, 'Welcome Home Johnny!'.

With a small thud the elevator touched down and a slight whir of electronics accompanied its opening doors. Standing on the tips of his toes Alan peered over Gordon's shoulder and frowned slightly when his older brother did not appear.

" Where's Johnny?" He asked worriedly.

Jeff motioned for his family to stay back as he entered the small space and found himself wincing in sympathy.

On the floor of the elevator lay his middle son, pained blue eyes staring up at him pleadingly.

"Hi dad, can you help me up?" John greeted with a small wince.

Jeff Tracy felt like face palming at his own stupidity. Of course he hadn't remembered what it was like to suddenly be thrust from constant zero gravity in to earth's gravitational fields. His regular space journeys had built him up a tolerance so he barely noticed the shifts but of course it was his son's first extended stay in space and John would have no experience with the gravity shift.

Apparently his son had just found out that until his body was used to the change, the intense gravity of earth would make his limbs feel like they were weighed down with chains.

Ducking down and pulling his son to his feet he found himself having to duck a shoulder under his son's to keep the teenager standing.

" How was it son?" Jeff asked gently.

Of course he knew it had been great for his quiet son, to be away from everyone had been a good experience for John who often suffered from social anxiety. John had communicated with his family regularly to chat away about how amazing it was on the newly built Thunderbird 5.

John smiled weakly up at his father as he attempted to get one foot in front of another.

" It was better than I ever could have imagined. I never knew gravity could give you such a pounding headache!" John murmured quietly, grimacing in pain at the lights of the hangar.

" That's just the gravity sickness, it'll get better with each trip I promise. Do you feel you can walk? There are some very eager young lads who would love to see their brother," Jeff inquired, concern leaching in to his deep voice.

John smirked fondly at the thought of his brothers he had missed so much over the last month and found himself nodding resolutely despite the pains in his head.

With his father supporting him he made his way down the ramp only to be attacked the moment he exited the ramp by the full force of his brother's hugs.

Blinded by the dog-pile of hugging brothers, John had to rely on his instinct to distinguish one body from another.

The little arms encircling his waist and the sharp chin tucked in to his stomach was Alan, his little brother obviously having wanted to get his hug in first.

The downy haired boy with his face buried in John's shoulder was undoubtedly Gordon who was not to be outdone by his younger sibling.

Virgil was the strong arms that squeezed the breath out of his lungs while offering a safety he had always felt from his immediate older sibling.

And the warm embrace both gentle and strong in its intensity had to be his big brother Scott who managed to envelop them all in his longer arms.

Oh how he had missed his beloved brothers.

"Alright boys, you give your brother some space," his grandma's voice ordered.

When he was released John found himself being kissed on the cheek by his beloved grandmother.

" Thanks grandma! It's so good to see you all again," John chuckled warmly.

A hesitant pat on the back had him whirling around to see Brains and Kayo, his family's newest additions.

" Welcome back John," Brains greeted, eyes flashing warmly behind his glasses.

Kayo nodded to him and he found himself blushing slightly, remembering the crush he used to have on the beautiful undercover agent.

After he had been ushered in to the living room and subjected to boundless questions about his time in space John found his headache steadily beginning to worsen.

Seeing his son's flagging energy and the pained lines creasing his forehead, Jeff quickly moved to rectify the situation.

" Hey boys, how about we let your brother get some rest," he suggested, pointedly eyeing his eldest sons who nodded in agreement.

" Yeah guys, let's get Johnny to bed," Virgil announced mischievously.

A moment later Scott had playfully slung his young brother over his shoulder and begun to take off down the hallway, his laughing younger siblings and indignant victim in tow.

Smirking fondly at his son's antics, Jeff followed to make sure his son's antics wouldn't get too out of hand, pausing in the kitchen to pick up a few supplies he knew his middle child would need.

He found them in John's room, his disgruntled and pouting middle son seated on his bed while his older siblings piled blankets on him and Gordon and Alan both snuggled against him on either side.

Raising his eyebrow he shot his youngest sons a questioning glance.

"And just how is John going to sleep with all of you in here?" He inquired pointedly.

Grinning madly his two youngest took off out of the room, calling their goodbyes to John as they went. Virgil walked after them slowly, an amused smile on his tanned face.

" I'll make sure those two don't kill themselves, take your time dad," Virgil called over his shoulder.

Shaking his head fondly he watched as Scott pulled John's covers over him and bent to give his younger brother one last hug.

" Welcome back Johnny," Scott murmured before leaving the room.

Jeff waited until Scott had disappeared around the corner before crossing over to his yawning son and producing the glass of water and medication he held.

Smiling thankfully up at his father, John swallowed the Panadol wore a relieved smile, sighing softly as the cool water soothed his hoarse throat.

"That'll help with the headache but only rest will get you on your feet again. Sleep well Johnny," Jeff murmured softly, stroking a hand through his son's red hair to help soothe his son's often racing thoughts.

" Thanks dad. I love you," John whispered softly as he closed his eyes, determined to sleep off the fatigue that came from exiting space.

Kissing his son's forehead lovingly, Jeff stood and left the room, shutting off the lights as he went.

" Love you too Johnny".


	3. Strawberry Waffles part two

It was early Tuesday morning on Tracy Island and John was finally adjusting to gravity.

The first two days after his return home from space he had been tripping over and losing his balance constantly. Eventually Scott had decided to shove Alan's bike helmet on his head in the hopes his 'continuous falls wouldn't damage his brain'.

Waking up on the third day after his return he finally found his headache had abated and standing up cautiously he found his balance had finally adapted to earth's increased gravity. Glancing at the familiar bedside clock he noticed that it was only 6:00am.

He knew it was too early for his brothers to be up and about. The Tracys had never been morning people, and a strong cup of coffee was often required to get them out of bed. After days of being lovingly cared for and coddled by his siblings, John figured the least he could do would be to cook the most prized breakfast in the Tracy household.

John Tracy's strawberry waffles.

John's culinary skills had become legend in their family. When he was a nerdy high school kid and frustrated by the bullying of his classmates he had found that taking his anger out by whipping eggs or kneading dough could be far more productive than wallowing in his feelings. Cooking was a lot like science, and so he found his anger melting away as he immersed himself in the measuring of ingredients and cooking temperatures.

He'd stopped cooking out of feeling and now it had become a sort of hobby. Besides, after eating space food for a month he was looking forward to a home cooked favourite.

Creeping quietly past his brother's bedrooms he entered the kitchen and began to lay out his ingredients while simultaneously warming up the coveted waffle iron.

The recipe was as familiar to him as any scientific formula or operational code for Thunderbird 5. Mixing ingredients together and watching the thick batter form was like therapy for his deprived soul. One the strawberries were sliced and the kettle was boiling away for coffee John figured it wouldn't be too much longer before one or more of his family members made an appearance.

Sure enough, when he was whisking the cream for topping their waffles his father and grandmother shuffled in to the room, faces lighting up at the sight of the waffle iron.

" I see you're feeling better today," Grandma Tracy commented with a small smile.

John chuckled deeply at that, knowing just how embarrassing it had been to be constantly getting up close and personal with their polished floor.

" Sure am, Grandma, why don't you and dad sit down at the table, breakfast will be ready in a few moments and there's a coffee pot coming your way," John offered, gesturing to their expansive dining room table.

Dragging a hand through his dark hair with a sigh, Jeff and his mother sat down smoothly in to their normal spots, nodding appreciatively as two steaming mugs of dark coffee were delivered to them.

Taking a deep, appreciative sniff of his favourite beverage, Jeff Tracy decided that having John home was about the best thing he could do to make his mornings brighter.

Every sip of coffee had his body and mind becoming more alert and he watched with brighter eyes as Scott and Gordon made their way in to the kitchen, the latter's smile broadening at the sight of freshly stacked waffles being staked on John's favourite orange platter.

" Oh yes! John's up and we get waffles! Best. Morning. Ever," Gordon exclaimed excitedly, racing to take his seat at the table and get to his coffee mug.

Scott took a slower approach, pausing to trap John in a headlock and ruffle his ginger hair teasingly.

" Good to see you won't need the helmet anymore Johnny," Scott teased lightly.

Swatting his brother's hands away with a mock pout, John went back to spooning the whipped cream in to the serving bowl.

" Scotty, I'm seventeen now, you can't keep calling me nicknames!" John whined in mock annoyance.

A smirking Virgil flicked John's ear as he passed by, "hypocrite," his older brother chimed as he did so.

Distracted from his immediate older brother's teasing greeting John found himself tackled in to a hg by his youngest sibling.

" Good morning Alan, I see someone's in a clingy mood today," John commented dryly, still awkward about touching others voluntarily.

Alan broke away and beamed up at John, his gap toothed grin showing as he jumped up and down in excitement.

" You made my favourite Johnny! Strawberry waffles!" Alan chirped brightly.

Stilling his brother with a light hand, John took on a face of mock severity.

" Well then you better get to the table so you don't miss out".

Gasping in horror at the thought of missing out on his favourite breakfast, Alan sprinted for the table, sidestepping a startled Brains at the last minute.

Shaking his head in amusement, John hefted his plates and bowls on to a tray and transferred his creation to the kitchen table, smirking in satisfaction when his brothers eyed the meal hungrily.

" Dig in". 

No more words were needed, and his brothers attacked the meal with gusto, on pausing momentarily for Scott to hand a waffle to his father and grandmother. With the two adults appeased, the rest was up for grabs, and John faintly mused that it was like watching animals at a zoo. Five growing boys were a lot to feed.

When the frenzy died down John realized that it might be time to get the second batch cooking, by the looks of the empty platter they would need it.

He had no idea what would happen next.

It was common knowledge that Gordon and Alan were incredibly close.

Their relationship stemming from years of pranking their older brothers mercilessly had them always on the look out for ways to implement their devious plans.

One such chance came when Virgil went to help John carry out the next wave of waffles.

Knowing how much their bear of an older brother relied on his coffee to wake him out of his early morning foggy awareness, the youngest brothers knew that if there was any way to prank Virgil, it would involve his sacred drink.

Seeing that John was conversing seriously with their grandmother and their father, Gordon gestured to the salt shaker closest to Alan.

Covering his mouth to hide his silent giggles, Alan handed his older brother the salt shaker and watched with anticipation as Gordon shook a generous amount in to Virgil's coffee and quickly replaced it when he noticed his dark haired sibling returning with a steaming plate of waffles.

" Is John coming to sit with us?" Alan asked tactfully, feigning the fact that nothing was wrong.

Regaining his seat, Virgil reached for his cup of coffee whilst gesturing towards John who was just putting away his final dish after washing up his cooking utensils.

" Yeah, he said he'd be a moment," Virgil answered with a slight shrug before raising the mug to his lips.

Gordon and Alan smirked at each other in anticipation, knowing his oldest brother didn't suspect a thing.

Moments later disaster occurred, and oh what Gordon would have given to have been filming the events that followed in slow motion.

Virgil's eyes widened comically in surprise and he spat out his mouthful of coffee, coughing to rid his throat of the taste.

A dark muddle of coffee formed on the floor from where it had been expelled, right in the path of an unsuspecting John who was finally moving to the table to eat his own breakfast.

Scott, who had witnessed the event out of the corner of his eye moved to warn his younger brother but it was too late.

A gasp of surprise emanated from John as his foot slipped on the spat out coffee and he found himself falling backwards, the back of his head meeting the kitchen counter before he was collapsing to the floor, eyes closing slowly as his vision blanked out and he slowly fell in to unconsciousness. 

The reactions of John's family were immediate, Jeff and Scott were immediately rushing to John's sprawled form, crying out his name worriedly. The smear of blood on the counter and the growing pool beneath his brother's turned head had the rest of his family sprinting over when the shock of what had happened wore off.

" John! Can you hear me John?" Jeff asked worriedly, supporting his son's head as Scott tapped his brother's cheek, hoping to bring him around.

When John's eyes remained stubbornly closed, their panic levels immediately spiked.

" Brains, Virgil! Get to the med bay and we'll meet you down there in a moment," Grandma Tracy ordered as she watched her son gently lift her grandson in to his arms, allowing Scott to position John's heat to rest against his shoulder and ignoring the blood now staining Jeff's shirt.

Gordon and Alan were clutching each other close as they followed their family to the med bay at a jog, hoping beyond all hope that their foolish prank had not endangered their brother's life.

Virgil raced ahead of them but they could see by his curled fists that their older brother was blaming himself just as much as they were.

Entering the med bay, Jeff was carefully allowed to lower John to one of the examination beds, clutching his hand as he moved to make way for Virgil and Brains to take over.

Virgil had apparently decided to leave his guilt for later and as Brains bustled around to collect the tools they would need, the dark haired Tracy had begun to try and bring their brother around.

" Johnny," Virgil called close to his brother's ear, hoping to elicit a reaction.

Surprisingly it did.

Dazed blue eyes blinked open and John stared dopily up at the family crowded around the bed.

" Hey Johnny, can you look at me?" Jeff asked softly.

Dazed blue eyes flitted towards their father's face before settling in to focus just behind him, a dopey smile forming on the middle brother's blood stained face.

A small giggle bubbled forth from John's cracked lips, and soon pale arms were rising to bat listlessly at the air.

Immediately concerned, Scott leaned down towards his brother's face, trying to capture his attention.

" John, what are you seeing?"

Another giggle was their response and John's dazed bleu gaze switched to bore in to Scotts own.

" They're so cute Scotty!"

Scott clasped his younger brother's flailing arms and trapped them by his brother's side.

" What's so cute, Johnny?"

" The stars Scotty! They're everywhere, can't you see them?"

Brains sidled closer with his prepared tools, watching the spectacle with a raised eyebrow.

" And how is our patient doing?" Brains asked in concern, noticing John's dopey expression and wandering gaze.

Virgil grimaced, gesturing to his immediate younger brother. "He's definitely got a concussion, says he's seeing stars everywhere".

Tapping John's shoulder to gain his attention, Brains flashed a light in to the younger man's eyes, watching as his pupils reacted at sluggish rates. Turning John's head to the side he caught sight of a large tear in the boy's skin which sill leaked blood slowly.

" Well, I'd say he's gotten himself a concussion for sure and he'll need some stitches in this tear but he's going to be fine in a day or two," Brains concluded, smiling reassuringly at the worried family.

An audible sigh of relief was issued throughout the room and John's brow creased in confusion at the expression on Scott's face.

" What's wrong Scotty?" He asked, or rather he tried to since his thoughts were fleeting and his tongue felt like it weighed a ton.

" Nothing, buddy, everything's going to be just fine. You'll get a few stitches and then you'll be back on the mend," Scott reassured, brightening his tone forcibly so as to not upset his confused brother.

While Scott reassured his older brother, Jeff pulled the rest of the room's occupants to the side, a deep frown marring his face as he stared imploringly at his three attentive sons.

Alan appeared to be on the verge of tears, sky blue eyes filling with moisture as he glanced fleetingly at his elder brother on the medical bed. Gordon was staring at the floor, fists clenched as he too attempted to keep his tears at bay. Virgil stared back at his father with worried brown eyes, appearing to be both stressed and concerned at once.

" What happened?" Jeff asked coolly.

Gordon and Alan shivered at his tone, knowing that when his father sounded calm it meant he was furious within.

" I don't know dad, I came back and took a drink of my coffee and it was disgusting! I spat it out and I didn't know what was wrong with it or that John would slip and hurt himself like that, I promise," Virgil explained, eyes wide and beseeching.

Jeff nodded to his eldest, knowing the fault was not his by the truth he saw in those deep brown eyes. Though the bad tasting coffee meant that his suspicions now riveted on his youngest sons.

" Gordon, Alan?"

Gordon raised his gaze to meet his father's and Jeff immediately saw the guilt in them.

" It was my fault. I decided to prank Virgil by putting salt in his coffee, I didn't know what would happen! I didn't mean for John to get hurt!" Gordon murmured, tears spilling over to slide down his tanned cheeks.

" I helped too even though I know I shouldn't of!" Alan wailed in agreement.

The sight of both his sons crying from guilt had Jeff immediately embracing them, his mother nodding her approval of her son's gesture.

" I know you boys didn't mean anything by it. None of you are to blame it was merely an accident. Just promise me there will be no more pranking from here on out, okay?"

His youngest sons nodded tearfully, clutching their father in misery.

" Who would have known that strawberry waffles could have caused all this," Grandma Tracy mused quietly, watching the scene with warm eyes.


	4. Intruder

Jeff Tracy had not survived forty-nine years by being a fool.

Ever since his late and beloved wife Lucille had placed a gurgling baby Scott in his arms his life had become centered around his family. While his work often took up a lot of his time, he always made sure he spent quality time with all five of his beloved sons.

Running around the garden with Scott on his shoulders pretending to be one of his favourite planes, teaching John his star constellations as his middle child watched in awe, playing the piano with Virgil, taking Gordon to swimming club and watching his Olympic dreams come to life and teaching Alan to fly his very own thunderbird, all these memories he treasured.

The death of his wife had been the hardest time of his life, but after her coffin was laid in to the family cemetery he had made himself a promise. He would never bury a son.

With this new revelation had come a protective power, rather like a sixth sense, that always let him know when something was afoot.

Peaking around the corner of the hallway to watch four of his sons huddled together whispering about their latest scheme, Jeff couldn't help but think that something was definitely going on.

Having heard none of the plans being spoke of but knowing they were about to wrap up their secret meeting Jeff left quietly, smiling to himself as he left them to their work. 

" So, John, you know how it's dad's birthday tomorrow?" Virgil began eagerly.

Floating in front of the monitor, John raised an eyebrow in confusion.

" Yes, I'm well aware that it's dad's fiftieth tomorrow," he replied, hoping to gauge what his brothers were getting at.

Alan and Gordon grinned at each other excitedly, crowding closer to the monitor displaying John's hovering form.

" We want you to come home, Johnny," Gordon elaborated quickly.

" Yeah, it's a surprise for dad!" Alan added, elbowing Gordon out of the way as he did so.

John smirked at his younger brother's antics before leaning over to check his console with a satisfied hum.

" Well, everything's been pretty quiet up here this week so I could probably come down for a day or two. I'll just have to reroute all calls to the island systems," John announced with a satisfied smile.

" Yes!" Gordon and Alan cried excitedly at the thought of their older brother coming home.

" I'll come home at midnight tonight, that'll give me time to reroute the systems and lock down the station until I return," John proposed, already turning his thoughts to all the necessary procedures.

" Good, that'll mean dad will have no idea that you're here until he wakes up on his birthday! We'll see you soon, Johnny," Virgil finished, signing off the comm system as he did so.

Glancing conspiratorially at each other the Tracy boys quickly hurried to go back to their individual activities to avoid their father's suspicions. Their dad was going to be so surprised! 

Jeff Tracy was a light sleeper, years of waking up to soothe away nightmares, tend to sick children and chase his sons back to bed had given him a sixth sense. He found himself attuned to all his son's noises as they slept, allowing him to know when something abnormal was occurring.

Scott mumbled in his sleep, sometimes having whole conversation out loud as he tossed and turned, ever restless.

Virgil snored softly as he slept curled up in a ball like a rather large and muscled cat.

Gordon snored as well, but he tended to sleep as sprawled out as his limbs to get, his brothers commenting that he looked like a squid.

Alan slept on the floor, no matter how many times Jeff put him back in his bed he would always hear a soft thump as his teenage son fell off his bed and curled up on the floor at some point in the night.

John was silent, he always was, but his middle child tended to end up sleeping like a dead pharaoh, limbs straight and arms hugged to his chest as he slept staring at the ceiling.

It was unnerving to say the least.

But Jeff knew these noises and even as he slept soundly he subconsciously registered them all as normal and it put his worries to ease.

But around midnight on Thursday evening he heard a sound that was not one he was accustomed to. The sound of footsteps in the dark.

Blue eyes snapping open, Jeff got up from his bed and crept towards the hallway, eyes adjusting to the darkness in order to see the problem.

He glanced in to the bedrooms as he went, ticking off the names of his children as he saw them sleeping soundly.

Scott, Virgil, Gordon, Alan on the floor yet again, his mother and Brains were all asleep where they should be, so that meant that whoever was walking around his home was not supposed to be there.

Knowing that Kayo was in England with Lady Penelope and Parker only affirmed his suspicions that whoever it was was hostile, and he crept even more cautiously towards where the soft footsteps were coming from. From the sounds of it, the intruder was making his or her way towards the hallway he was currently creeping through, and in a moment they would come face to face.

Halting at the corner, he crouched down and awaited the mysterious foe.

Unable to see much in the dark besides shadowy forms and shapes, he kept his eyes out for anything vaguely humanoid, preparing himself to use his wrestling grab from high school.

He'd excelled at wrestling in high school and so when he spotted a shadowy, tall figure moving confidently in to the hallway he leapt, choosing to make no sound to alert him of his presence.

His aim proved true and moments later he was crashing in to the man who let out a startled cry at the unexpected onslaught. Vaguely, Jeff noticed that the intruder sounded rather young for a seasoned criminal, all the better, he'd be easier to stop.

He was shocked to find that despite his superior size and bulk that man under him wriggled like a fish and gasped desperately, the air having been knocked out of his lungs in the fall.

Clamping down on a flailing arm he let his protective instincts kick in and moments later the intruder was letting out a scream of pain and surprise as his arm broke at the elbow and the full weight of a furious Jeff Tracy was bearing down on him.

" How did you get here? This is an island, how did you know where we were?!" Jeff snarled threateningly.

The thief below him yelped as Jeff enhanced his threatening words with a tug on his broken arm, pain making the intruder gasp desperately as he tried to speak over what was undoubtedly tears.

Growling in annoyance at the lack of answers, Jeff punched the man in the cheek furiously, the thought of his sons coming to harm from this intruder's actions causing him to ignore the choked cry of pain it elicited.

A second later he was blinded as the harsh hallway lights were turned on and a string force barreled in to his side, knocking him off the intruder harshly and sending him tumbling over.

Thinking the intruder had help, he leapt to his feet swiftly, eyes narrowed in an effort to see his new opponent as his eyes adjusted to the new light.

As they did so he saw the looming face of his oldest son standing before him with terrified eyes.

" Scott! What are you doing? There's an intruder in the house!" Jeff growled, moving to sidestep his son.

Scott grabbed his arm.

" No dad, there's no intruder!" Scott yelled, causing his father to stop dead in his tracks and actually take a look at the supposed thief on the floor of the hallway.

His second eldest, Virgil, was crouched beside a blue and orange garbed form, speaking to the intruder in soothing tones over the sound of choked off sobs.

Jeff's blue gaze widened in terror as he recognised exactly who was being blocked from his view by Virgil's crouched form.

" John!"

He rushed over, skidding to kneel beside his middle son's prone form, tears threatening to spill down his face as he caught sight of a bloodied and crying John being checked over by a gentle Virgil.

His son's dazed blue eyes turned to face him, wet with tears and brimming with pain as blood spilled from a cut on his cheek left there by Jeff's strong punch. A bruise was beginning to form but that was the least of his worries.

His eyes tailed to his son's left arm and he wished they hadn't as he caught sight of his son's elbow bone sticking out of his skin as Virgil cut the suit to get a better look. Blood was falling from the open wound and gleaming white bone stared accusingly at the shocked father of five.

" Oh god, Johnny," Jeff murmured in surprise.

John cried out again as Virgil probed the wound to examine it and Scott was immediately there to put his arms around the terrified and pained brother.

" ssh, Johnny, it's okay now".

Jeff leant forward, stroking his son's flaming red hair away from his eyes as his children looked up at him worriedly.

" I'm so sorry son, I had no idea it was you!"

Virgil cursed quietly as he finished examining John's compound fracture and lifted his gaze to meet Scott's.

" Scott go wake up Brains, John needs and X-ray and we need to get this arm set immediately".

Nodding quickly the eldest son hurried off as Jeff swiftly and gently picked up his whimpering son, shushing him gently as he sobbed at the jostling of his wound.

Following Virgil to the infirmary Jeff couldn't help but feel guilty, after all, he'd just hurt his own son!

Placing down of the bed he held the boy's right arm still as he watched Virgil preparing a needle. Knowing that one of John's biggest fears besides social situations was needles, he turned John's face to meet his gaze, hoping he wouldn't notice the needle being prepared.

Eyes pleading and small whimpers escaping his throat John stared up at his father worriedly.

" I'm sorry dad, I'm sorry," He whispered hoarsely as Virgil approached from the side.

" It's okay son, there's nothing for you to be sorry about you did nothing wrong. It's me who is sorry!" Jeff replied gently, putting gentle pressure on John's arm as Virgil slid the painkillers in to his brother's veins.

A surprised cry of pain issued from John's throat as the needle slid sharply in to his arm and his tears fell anew.

" Hush now Johnny, it's okay, Virgil's just going to give you some medicine to take the pain away. It'll be over soon," Jeff murmured soothingly as Virgil gave him a swift nod and pulled the needle back out gently.

John whimpered softly in the back of his throat, uncaring of whether he was acting like a child. It hurt! There was blood and pain and sharp needles and he didn't acre if he cried and sounded younger than Alan, it bloody hurt! He just wanted it over with!

He barely noticed Brains arrival, but he did notice as Scott leant over him with his signature dimpled grin, relaxing to the feel of his father's calloused hands running through his russet hair.

" You feeling any better there Johnny boy?" Scott asked optimistically.

John grimaced in distaste at the nickname, flinching at the cold light of Brains' handheld X-ray recorder.

" Not really," It was true, the pain had barely receded with the painkillers and John found himself wishing for it to just be over.

He didn't really bother to react when Brains quietly called Virgil and is dad over to the other side of the room where his X-ray would be displayed, but he did whine unhappily when his dad's warmth and his soothing hand left.

Scott's soothing laugh allayed his discomfort and he focused on his brother's voice as he rambled on, knowing it would help to distract him from the blinding pain that kept damn tears spilling from his eyes.

So engrossed was he in his brother's rambling on about how much of a fright he'd given them, that he didn't notice the other's returning until it he felt heir hands touching his various appendages.

Instantly he shied away and kicked his feet to stop his dad from touching his legs.

He HATED touch unless he himself initiated it. His family petting his hair was about the only thing he tolerated and for some reason he kept shivering at any other touch.

" Sorry about this Johnny," He heard Scott murmur, his blue eyes pooling with sympathy.

" What?" He yelped as harsh hands clamped down on his legs, his right arm and his chest, effectively pinning him to the medical bed.

He felt Brains' cold, smooth hands feeling along his injured appendage and he squirmed as much as he could, knowing exactly what pain was about to come.

" No, no, no, no, no, please don't it already hurts! I don't want it fixed, just let go of me!" John whined frantically, pulling and struggling to try and get out of their iron grip as his frantic blue gaze locked on to Brains as the young man calculated the angle he would need to pull to yank John's bones back in to place.

" sssh, Johnny, everything's okay, just stay still," Virgil murmured, tightening his grip on John's right arm and shoulder as Scott pressed harder on his chest, his eldest brother's face staring down at him in pity.

" NO!" John snarled, renewing his fight desperately as he saw Brains' face change to grim determination.

" Brains! Do it quickly!" Jeff growled as he shoved all his weight on to John's squirming legs.

Brains nodded grimly and moments later he pulled hard, a loud snapping sound filling the air as he did so, barely masked by John's agonized scream.

The men let up their hold on the youngest and immediately John was curling protectively around his wounded arm, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably as he did so, flinching away as Scott put a gentle hand on his shoulder.

" Oh come here, little brother, it's all done now, it's all over," Scott murmured as he and Virgil sat their brother up against their father's chest as Jeff moved to sit behind the youngest.

Immediately there were warm arms encircling John's exhausted and panting body, and the youngest son in the room was instantly burrowing in to his father's warmth. His need for shelter from the blinding pain being the only reason he craved touch at this moment in time.

" Is it done now?" John murmured softly, sobs subsiding as his energy fled.

Squeezing his son reassuringly, Jeff stroked his red hair as Brains moved over with a sling and some needle and thread.

" Yeah buddy, Brains just has to sew up the wound and then he'll put you in a nice sling for a while okay," Jeff murmured softly.

John was too exhausted to bother flinching as the needle was applied to his skin to sew up the open wound. He didn't care anymore, he just wanted to stay safe and warm in his father's arms and forget that this whole night had happened. Tears drying on his face and shifted slightly so he was resting his weight against his father, his head tucked under his father's chin as he soaked in the warmth his father emitted and shut his eyes to block the sight of the sewing needle.

Moments later he was drifting, his thoughts muddled and sleepy as his eyes blinked open tiredly to the sight of Scott and Virgil smiling at him gently.

" I see the painkillers have worked, getting sleepy John?" Virgil asked teasingly.

John didn't bother replying verbally, blue eyes sinking closed as he nodded his head slightly in reply.

" Go to sleep little brother, when you wake up we'll watch dad cut the cake and we'll have a party of epic proportions. You might even get to watch Gordon be thrown in to the pool again," Scott proposed affectionately.

John smirked softly at this, murmuring something incoherent as his father stood and he felt his arm being manipulated in to a soft sling.

His father murmured something back to him but he was too tired to notice, snuggling closer to his father's warmth as he was carried off somewhere, the lulling gait of his father lulling him to sleep as his pain faded away and his dreams of the beauty of space began. 

True to their predictions, John felt much better when he awoke the next day, not at all surprised to see that his father had slept in his bed that night, an arm curled closely around his middle child.

While the rest of the household were surprise by his sling and spectacular purple bruise the party for Jeff's fiftieth birthday was fun, despite the surprise having being ruined.

John explained the midnight arrival and Jeff found himself laughing hysterically as his middle child told of how surprised he'd been when his father had tackled him.

" You mean that you were stalking around in the middle of the night to come home to surprise me? Well I sure was surprised, I'll give you that," Jeff chuckled in disbelief, a contemplative frown marring his face a moment later. " Which one of you boys planned this 'surprise' for me?"

Gordon raised his hand guiltily, sheepishly ducking his head as his father chuckled in his direction.

Confused as to why his father was laughing, Gordon barely had a moment to scream as two strong grips attached themselves to his arms and he found himself crashing in to the pool with a surprised shriek.

Spluttering as he surfaced, he was about to give a cackling Virgil and a giggling Scott a piece of his mind when he noticed John.

The middle brother had been quiet throughout the day as he was prone to be, but now he sat on his pool chair laughing loudly, a carefree smile upon his usually serious face.

If John was laughing, then Gordon was willing to be thrown in to the pool a hundred times over. 

_**Hey guys! I've been super busy lately but because I'm off school sick today I figured I would update this story. John may seem a little OOC in this chapter but I know from experience that when you're injured and in pain no matter how old you are anyone can act like a kid. Anyways, I've received a few prompts but I would love more! As you can see I like writing fics about John but I am open to writing the other brothers as well, just send me in what you want to read and I'll do my best to make it happen.**_


	5. Left Out

Left out:

For the first time in years the Tracy brothers looked forward to the nightly news.

Their grandmother had tipped them off to a special news broadcast being done to commemorate their father's landing on the moon and it was decided that the brothers were not going to miss it.

At seven o'clock sharp the Tracy brothers were rushing to take their seats on the couch, Scott moving stiffly to sit down as his abused muscles protested sharply. He had only just made it back from his mission in time to see the broadcast and he smiled gratefully at Virgil as his younger sibling handed him a cup of coffee.

" It's a shame that John can't watch this with us," Alan commented with disappointment lacing his tone.

He had been looking forward to his brother coming home for the week and he was even more excited that John was going to be teaching him his lessons for the week, he always made them so much fun!

Unfortunately his brother had to stay up in space to monitor a shower of space junk over captain O'Bannon's current location. He had to be ready to act if needed and had apologized profusely for not being there. To stop him missing the program they were going to record it and send it to him so he could catch up once the junk shower was over.

Alan was broken out of his musing when Gordon switched to the appropriate channel and the boys immediately turned their attention to the pretty blonde presenter.

" Good evening and welcome to this evening's program celebrating the moon landing of famous billionaire Jeff Tracy. Jeff trained as a pilot before becoming an astronaut and being one of the first men to live on the moon for a period of time. He came back from his daring mission for the birth of his first son, Scott Tracy, and has since become a family man.

While we have not seen much of him lately we have heard plenty about his beloved sons.

Scott Tracy, a former pilot in the air force and now pilot of Thunderbird one working with the acclaimed international rescue. We know him for his daring acts of bravery and those he has rescued have said that he was a calm and steady figure during their crisis.

Of course we all know Virgil Tracy, a famous artist and pilot of thunderbird two, but don't let his good looks and charm sway you, Virgil has been known to be the strongest of them all.

Jeff Tracy always speaks of his younger son Gordon, an Olympic gold medalist and the only pilot to successfully rescue victims in trouble in our seas.

And of course our protégée, Alan Tracy, the youngest pilot of international rescue and the rising star of the family.

Jeff Tracy may have started it all with his spectacular moon landing, but while we celebrate his achievements tonight we also celebrate those of his sons, Scott, Virgil, Gordon and Alan Tracy".

Silence reigned in the room for minutes after the show finished and the brothers sat staring at the blackened screen for a tense moment.

" We are not showing this to John," Scott growled.

The room's occupants all nodded quickly, grimacing at the thought of their shy, antisocial brother watching the report.

" I can't believe that they forgot about him completely! Don't they know what he does is important? They go on about us when John is the only reason we know about issues in the first place!" Alan seethed, staring imploringly at Scott as if he could erase the whole interview from existence.

Scott clenched his fist around the empty mug in his hand, eyes simmering in anger at the thought of his brother being forgotten.

 _Out of everyone in their family John had the most trouble when it came to people. He did his best but he always botched up conversations and had a nervous breakdown when people would look at him in disgust._

" _Why don't people like me daddy?" Six year old John asked after his first day of kindergarten, deep blue eyes leaking tears down his freckled face._

" _It's only your first day son, they'll learn to like you, you'll see," Jeff had replied, not even bothering to look up from his work to take in his crying child's shattered expression._

 _Jeff was wrong._

 _When John was ten things only got worse._

" _You're useless Tracy!"_

" _I-I'm not!"_

" _See! Squirt can't even speak properly!"_

 _He had learned not to cry to their father who never understood. He always told John to man up or just hang in there because he'd make good friends soon._

 _So he cried to Scott, and he cried to Virgil, because they were his older brothers and they always knew what to do to make him feel better._

" _Why do people hate me Virge?" He would ask timidly._

" _They don't hate you Johnny, they just don't understand you yet. One day they will, but for now why don't you come and hang out with Scott and I at lunch"._

" _Yeah John! It'll be fun hanging out with us, you can talk to Kayo, you like here don't you," Scott would add happily._

 _When John was sixteen he still had no friends. Graduating early from highschool because of his grade jumping, he'd landed himself in to the same college as Virgil since Scott was off at airforce training. He enjoyed the challenge of learning, but he did not enjoy the social life._

 _When Virgil couldn't find John anywhere on campus he became frantic. He'd searched for hours and could find his baby brother nowhere. Finally he had entered a deserted hallway whose only feature was a tiny broom closet._

 _A soft sobbing had caught his attention and he'd immediately kicked down the door to find his baby brother crying and curled up in a ball, dust covering him from head to toe._

" _Oh Johnny, who did this?" Virgil asked gently when John finally calmed down enough or him to touch him._

" _Why don't people like me Virge?"_

" _You're new, it'll just take time baby bro"._

 _John was coming home from the NASA training camp for the first time, his eighteen year old brother was coming home and the Tracy boys were all there to greet him. Walking out of the bus he met them at the dock which would lead them to the boat to get them out to their island home._

 _His black eye stood out to them like a sore thumb and he looked sad and nervous._

" _Hey Johnny, what's up with the black eye?" Gordon had asked cheekily._

 _John had ducked his head, forming a submissive posture his older brothers knew all too well._

" _It's nothing Gordo"._

 _That night Scott and Virgil had approached their brother as he sat on the roof admiring the stars above._

 _Instead of answering their questions the way they wished him to, he turned watery bleu eyes towards his older siblings._

" _Scotty, why do people hate me?"_

" _They don't hate you John, they're just jealous because you're smarter than them, they'll warm up to you soon"._

So many excuses.

Every time the dreaded question would arise they would always have an excuse to explain away the bully's scorn. It didn't occur to them that their excuses gave their brother hope, hope that one day people would like him, that they would accept him.

So many years had passed where they would be dragged to important parties and the guests would say.

" Oh your sons are so lovely. Our young army hero Scott, our famous painter Virgil oh how I love your work, the Olympic gold medalist Gordon oh how famous you are, and the youngest pilot to ever star their tutelage, Alan. You boys are so special".

No one ever thought John was special. Most of the time they would ask him to fetch their drinks thinking he was the waiter loitering beside the famous family. Because John was eager to please and eager for some semblance of recognition and praise he would get their drinks as fast as he could, if only he could get a word of gratitude and acknowledgement.

It was sad, but it was impolite to correct their guests.

Eventually when John finished his NASA training and his father sent him up for his first month onboard thunderbird five it became so much easier.

No more awkward social occasions.

Friends weren't necessary in space, and John was the perfect choice to monitor thunderbird five, he hated social situations anyway.

Or did he?

It had been only recently when he had finally confided in his elder brothers when they'd told him he didn't have to come to the fancy party they'd all been invited to.

" I'd love to come!" He'd chirped excitedly.

" But you hate social situations," Gordon had remarked in confusion.

" Oh yeah, um, now that you mention it I may just skip out on this one".

They hadn't understood then but John had been so alone for months at a time, all he wanted was to hang out with them. He didn't care about the party, no one would notice him anyway, but he wanted to hang out with the only true friends he did have in the world, his brothers.

Ever since he had confided in Scott after the party, the eldest Tracy boy had made sure to make as many excuses for John to come down to earth as he could. He knew his brother was too shy to admit that while he found other people awkward and he avoided touch like the plague, he craved time with his brothers because despite his lack of significant skill or traits in the eyes of the public he was special to them.

He wasn't invisible to his brothers.

So why was he invisible to the world?

Ever since these revelations had come to light Scott and Virgil had been thinking over all the times they could have defended their brother, the moments they could have protected him from the bullying and the pain of being alone. They had been blind before but lately they had not been.

" John doesn't need to know about this report. We'll tell him the recording device stuffed up and we'll block his access to it online so he will never see that he was forgotten," Virgil growled determinedly.

His brothers nodded resolutely.

" I just wish people saw John through our eyes, he does so much! He stays up for days at a time to deal with disasters, he juggles countless rescues at once with not a single mistake, he lives in zero gravity alone for months at a time and he's a certified genius. If only they knew how special he is to us," Gordon muttered as the Tracy boys got up out of their seats and moved to the kitchen for dinner.

They never noticed the red headed figure lurking in the hallway having been prepared to surprise his brothers after the program. The junk shower had turned out to be far less dangerous than his scanners had first indicated and captain O'Bannon had ordered him to go back to Tracy island to carry out his original plans of this week off.

A tear rolled down the figure's cheek landing on the floorboards with a small plop. He had been forgotten by the world, but not his family.

After all, true friends never forget.


	6. Masterpiece

_**Hey guys, so I got a request for something other than a oneshot featuring John! So here you go Virgil fans! Honestly this fic is inspired from issues I had with my own dad about what I want to do with my life after school. Hopefully I do our lovely Virgil justice. Yet again, more prompts are appreciated.**_

Art.

It had always been an escape, a sanctuary for Virgil Tracy, and activity he could participate in to let out all his pent up angst and express himself in ways he could not manage with others.

Most kids had diaries to share their private thoughts with, or a best friend to confide in, but while Virgil's brothers were great, his confidant was his sketchbook, and his diary his canvas.

There were no rules with art, no one telling him how it should be done since the ideas were his own and the brush strokes unique to his style. Until the fateful afternoon of the 14th of July his artwork had been his secret talent.

The only dark cloud on his horizon was his father, Jeff Tracy.

Jeff was like Scott in so many ways, dedicated, loyal, protective and above all, practical.

He wouldn't understand the creativity, inspiration and complex emotions contained in his paintings or the depth behind his sketches, he would take one look and immediately close of to his second son.

He just could not understand. 

" _Son, just what do you want to do with your life?"_

 _Ducking his head in embarrassment, cheeks blushing deep pink Virgil peeked up at his father awkwardly._

" _Of course I want to be a part of your international rescue scheme when it becomes operational, I'll be a pilot like you, but until then I kind of want to be…an artist"._

 _The silence was far more deafening than his words._

 _His father stared ahead, hands tightening on the steering wheel as his face hardened._

" _An artist?"_

" _Yes dad, I want to paint and draw and sculpt like the famous artists in France, dad I'm good and my talent is only growing!"_

 _If Jeff gripped the steering wheel any tighter Virgil feared it would crack under his white knuckled grip._

" _No matter how skilled you are, son, you'll never get anywhere as an artist, and then where will you be? Unable to provide for a family! You've got strength and smarts Virgil, why don't you become a mechanic or join the army like Scott's planning?"_

 _Virgil felt tears prick behind his eyes as he clasped his hands in his lap, avoiding having to look at his father's face. It was hard for a thirteen year old to realize that his father, his role model, did not approve of his dreams._

" _Because those jobs may work for Scott, but it's just not me…"_

" _Being an artist isn't a career son, it's a hobby, do it in your spare time but you can't devote your life to it, your art will never amount to anything"._

Over the following weeks it had changed from, _your art will never amount to anything_ , to _**you'll never amount to anything**_ in his mind.

He knew his father loved him and that was why he was acting this way, but Jeff would have to understand that this was his dream. After the recent death of their mother he knew his father was trying his best to better provide for his ons but he just didn't know. He couldn't explain to his father the burning passion, the way in which his thoughts all turned to his latest designs, the therapeutic effect painting had on his mind or the way in which every surface he saw suddenly became a canvas in his mind, a work of art.

 _Maybe dad was right, this isn't the future for me_.

A knock on his door immediately had him glancing up to see his younger brother or eleven, John, standing there with a plate of cookies in hand and big aqua blue eyes melting his heart immediately.

" Virge? Can I come in?"

Knowing his younger brother, who was so often unable to properly express his emotions, obviously had something on his mind had Virgil immediately beckoning him in, patting the bed in welcome.

" Sure thing buddy, come and sit right here with me".

The red head pattered over timidly, thrusting the cookies out in front of him with a shy smile.

" Scotty help me make them but I think you need one," John stated proudly, though a hint of concern seemed to break through.

Virgil fought the urge to coo at the adorableness of his younger brother who was so opposed to emotion but every now and then displayed it as clear as day.

" I sure do, kiddo".

A moment of silence in which John squirmed in to Virgil's lap while munching on his cookie, gave them both time to collect their thoughts. Glancing at his brother's sketchbook lying open on the bed John's expressive eyes filled with curiosity.

" What are you working on?"

" I was trying to draw a picture of MAX but it wasn't working out so well," Virgil replied with a small sigh of annoyance at his failed venture.

" What's wrong Virgil? You always draw really well, so you must be upset about something if you can't get it right".

There was a moment of silence in which Virgil contemplated his reply, but knowing his brother's unusual intelligence and maturity for his age, he figured it was worth a shot.

Explaining the situation actually kind of made him feel a lot better.

" He just doesn't really get it Johnny, and I don't know how to prove my talent and my passion to him," He finished, feeling kind of exhausted now that that weight was off of his chest.

Silence reigned for a full minute until John squirmed around to face his older brother with a serious expression, a tiny flicker of hope in his eyes.

" Why don't you enter an art competition, there's one at the moment offering a huge award to anyone who wins! Then dad will have to see that your art can get you somewhere if you win!"

Virgil smiled immediately, the truth of his brothers words filling him with energy despite his earlier lethargy.

" That's perfect little brother! But what would I paint?"

"Something that inspires you to be you, Virgil". 

A month later the letter came.

It didn't look too fancy, but it was addressed in his name and a stylish double A adorned the front.

" Virgil! The academy of the arts gave out the results!" John cried excitedly, sprinting in to his older brother's room with a huge grin on his face.

Immediately Virgil was rushing over and the two ripped open the package together.

" Dear Mr Virgil Tracy,

We are happy to inform you that you have won first prize of one thousand dollars for your piece entitled, Vader, we thank you so much for your contribution and we wish to see more of your works in the future.

Sincerely, John Baldwin, Academy of the Arts." Virgil read out.

Immediately John was hugging his older brother excitedly, the two of them jumping up and down in elated surprise and glee.

" I DID IT!"

" You sure did Virge, now you just need to tell dad!"

Jeff Tracy stared at his sons for five full minutes of silence following the news and he stared at Virgil the most.

" You won an art competition?"

" Yeah dad! He totally won the first prize and everything!"

" That'll be enough from you, John".

Silence reigned yet again.

" Did I give you permission to enter this competition?" Jeff asked monotonously, eyes containing conflicted emotions.

Hanging his head in defeat and knowing he was about to be lectured Virgil felt his heard thud in his chest. He had poured his heart and soul in to his painting and his father acted like it was nothing that he had disobeyed.

" No sir, I did it because I wanted to show you that my art can get me somewhere. Dad thousands of people entered this competition and out of everyone they chose mine to win! Don't you even want to see some of my work, to see if your son actually has the talent? The world may recognize it but my own dad won't see the passion right under his nose!" Virgil ranted, growing more angry by the word until hot tears spilt down his cheeks in indignation.

Jeff seemed taken aback by his son's outburst and his face softened slightly.

" Here daddy, this is the official picture taken by the photographers," John murmured softly, holding up a printed image of the artwork.

Jeff stared for a long time, his face and thoughts unreadable.

" You painted this?"

" Yes. Vader means father in German, I wished to paint my inspiration and the most important thing in my life," Virgil murmured back softly, eyes searching his father's for something, anything!

" It's beautiful my son".

The painting shone in the image, a painting he had created to depict his role model, his inspiration.

It was of his father standing in his flight uniform in front of the old kitty hawk plane.

Hot tears suddenly became joyful.

" Thanks dad". 

Ever since, Jeff and John were his biggest supporters and today, whilst international rescue was his main priority he knew that his one true love would be in art.

For with it he had painted the images of all of them that hung in the lounge room and channeled their transmissions, and with art he expressed Virgil Tracy to the world. He may be strong and fierce in a rescue, but when he was home he became an artist.

Creative and inspired he let himself run wild with his paints and pencils to create a masterpiece.

Every now and then he entered a competition and he won them every time, and maybe, just maybe, he always called up John about his latest artworks and how many trophies he'd won.

After all, John was his biggest supporter besides their…late father.

" You may have left this world early dad but you watched me become a man, you watched me live your dream of international rescue, and better yet, you watched me live my dream of being an artist. Maybe an artist can amount to something after all".


	7. Brother of Mine

Scott and Virgil

It was often said that Scott and Virgil were different sides of the same coin.

Where Scott was confident, brash and prepared to jump in to danger to rescue people without a second thought, Virgil was a calming presence, the anchor who didn't lose his cool and made sure Scott didn't lose his.

Together they were an unstoppable force, especially when their little brothers were in danger.

" Scotty! Virge! Help me!" Five year old John shrieked as he clung to his branch. The boy had decided to beat Scott's record climbing height in the acorn tree and had ended up stuck in the lower branches as the wind suddenly came in.

Immediately his brothers were running over from Scott's model plane and were standing under the tree with worried faces.

" I'm slipping!" John squeaked worriedly, clinging as tight as he possibly could as the wind made his branch sway.

" Virgil you're stronger than me, if we stand on dad's wheelbarrow and you lift me up I'll be able to reach him," Scott explained, gesturing to the rusty wheelbarrow leaning on the acorn tree.

" Consider it done".

Minutes later a relieved and sobbing John was sandwiched between his brothers in a tight hug, clinging to Scott like his lifeline.

"What were you doing? Don't you know how dangerous climbing in without an adult?" Virgil scolded gently, still crushing his brother with his hug.

John sniffled and glanced up at them with watery aqua eyes.

" I'm sorry, thank you for rescuing me so quickly, I thought I was gonna fall," John apologized softly, his tone betraying just how scared he'd been.

" Don't you worry spaceman, Virgil and I will always have a plan to save you".

In the end, Scott and Virgil weren't just good in a working capacity, they were the perfect temperaments to balance one another out.

And when Scott would undoubtedly be a hero and charge in with a quickly made plan and a fistful of courage Virgil would be there to provide support and medical assistance for when his brother would complete the rescue with a few new bruises. 

John and Alan

John had always been and would always be Alan's hero. Despite the red head's penchant for avoiding social interaction and non initiated touch he managed to be the perfect mentor for an impulsive and proud teenager.

Even as kids Jeff Tracy had seen their relationship blossoming and had encouraged them to spend more time together by making John the go to bedtime story teller.

"So Allan, what do you want to hear about tonight?" John would ask, laying down on the bed beside his little four year old brother.

"Space!" Alan would reply with his gap-toothed grin and wide blue eyes as expressive as a mirror.

" How did I know you would say that?" John teased, a small chuckled escaping him.

Alan would wait until he was invited in to a hug before snuggling in to his brother's side, knowing from experience that if he didn't John would freeze up and start stuttering like a mad man.

"Alright kiddo, how about I tell you an extra special story tonight about some of the star constellations. If we open the curtains and turn the lights off I can even help you find some of them".

When his offer was met with an enthusiastic squeal John immediately plunged the room in to darkness and opened the curtains to the weak glow of the moon and the twinkling stars above.

" You see Alan, when you look up in to the sky you can sometimes make pictures with the stars, and some of those pictures have stories like Orion and his belt," John began before pointing to the telltale three stars that marked the belt.

Alan followed his finger and his instructions until with an excited cry he turned back to grin at his brother.

" I see Orion Johnny! I see it!"

Night after night of stories eventually turned in to night after night of reading space themed books from the school library and drawing rocket designs for when they would both get to go to space.

"Why is yours red, Allie?"

" Why is yours boring Johnny?"

"Touché".

And eventually when both brothers would go for Alan's first overnight sleepover in Thunderbird Five they would tell those stories again with the world literally at their feet. 

Virgil and Gordon

"I don't even want to know how you managed to land on a shark," Virgil sighed as he gently examined the bitten leg before him.

"Ow! And it was an accident, I slipped and hit the water, I didn't know it was under me".

It was to be said that Gordon was a magnet for injury.

Ever since his hydrofoil accident he had been as fragile as a feather and his constant need for treatment had him sending more and more time with Virgil. Up until his accident a few years before the brothers had been close but the ties that bonded some of their pairings had not yet existed here.

But the hydrofoil changed everything.

Virgil had taken one look at his brother after the manic rush to surgery on the mainland and had stuck to Gordon like glue once he was able.

Week upon week of sitting at his bedside with a worried frown while Gordon slowly recovered had caused Virgil to suddenly feel a surge of protective instinct that he had never felt before.

And it hadn't stopped there. Virgil the protector was in full force from then on.

Gordon had been surfing with him when it happened. For years the two of them had occasionally surfed together since they both seemed to excelled at the sport but after the accident it had become a morning ritual.

One morning they had been waiting for a wave when Gordon had let out the most blood curdling scream Virgil had ever heard.

Paddling over with a speed and intensity of a man on his strength he had come across his younger brother desperately clinging to his board as his the water around him turned a sight amount of red, at first he hadn't understood but the emerging fin made the issue pretty clear.

Gordon had fallen off the board at the end of his wave and landed smack bang above a sizeable shark, who was obviously startled and had reacted by biting his leg.

The blood had the animal on the scent but the teary face of his beloved brother and his weak scrabbling at the board had Virgil seeing red.

What had happened next was a blur and no one quite knew what had really occurred on that morning but all Virgil knew was that after his flurry of attack the shark had swam off in a hurry and Gordon had been safely bundled back to shore and treated.

"Thanks Virge, you know I never knew you that in you," Gordon commented teasingly as the last bandage was tied away.

Virgil raised an eyebrow, pinning his brother with an inquisitive stare.

" Had what in me?"

A wide eyed glance had him rethinking his blur of fury that morning.

" You fricking punched a shark man! You went all kamikaze on it I swear! Your angels must've been pulling overtime because that creature swam off faster than Thunderbird One!"

Walking past the medbay five minutes later Scott could only shake his head at the hysterical laughter within.

Whether it was punching sharks, telling stories or working together to save the others the Tracy brothers had surprising relationships within their ranks that grew despite hardship. But then what would you expect? They're brothers after all. 

_**Hey guys! I've been so busy recently so I haven't updated as much but I managed to churn out this one, and on Friday we have the day off from school so I can update more. This was a weird story to write, for some reason I was feeling sappy and emotional so I churned this sucker out. Anyway, I've been given a few prompts and I can't decide so I'll leave it to you. Which do you want to see?**_

 _ **John sick**_

 _ **Virgil injured/sick brotherly fluff**_

 _ **Au where the brothers have wings**_

 _ **Disaster on Tracy island e.g break in, explosion etc.**_


	8. Doctor Doctor

_**Hey everyone, so I got a lot of reviews on the last chapter, but winning by one vote was a sick/hurt Virgil fic. So here you go Virgil lovers. Anyway, so my school got vaccinated for Meningococcal disease today so I was in the mood to write a sick fic, so anyways, here we go, the next vote for the next chapter will be posted at the end.**_

It was well known that doctors make the worst patients.

That was abundantly clear in the case of a sick and miserable Virgil Tracy.

Three days ago he had been perfectly well and in the midst of a rescue, but then again, it was that rescue that caused the drama in the first place.

" _Scott, I've reached the entrance to the children's ward, stand by in Thunderbird One to receive patients," Virgil informed, fingering the comm device on his wrist._

 _Scott's voice filtered back over the roar of the flames devouring the city hospital wards._

" _FAB Virgil"._

 _His exosuit allowed him to shove the heaviest of the debris away until he created a hole big enough to crawl through. Creeping through the hole he emerged dusty and scratched in to the partially collapsed children's ward and was immediately swamped by children no older than ten._

" _Are you here to rescue us?"_

" _Are we getting out of here?"_

" _Are we gonna die?"_

 _Coughing to clear the smoke from his lungs Virgil surveyed the situation._

 _Seven kids in hospital gowns stood before him, three were lain on the ground unconscious._

" _Are there any adults here?" Virgil asked, taking in the collapsed section of the room and the small fires with piercing eyes._

 _The oldest boy stood forward, both arms in casts and soot covering his clothes._

" _There was a doctor and a nurse in here to see Lucy, she hit her head at school and they were trying to wake her up but the roof started collapsing when the alarms went off, they managed to shove her away from the debris but they got crushed," he murmured shakily, obviously trying to keep it together._

 _Grimacing at the thought of these kids having seen their violent deaths, Virgil knelt down to better see the kids through the smoke filtering in._

" _Alright, now my name is Virgil Tracy and I'm with international rescue. I'm going to lift you all up through the hole I made and I'll need you to stay on the other side until I get over there, can you do that? I need you to trust me," Virgil ordered gently, gesturing to the hole he'd created a few minutes ago._

 _Coughing lightly against the smoke the kids nodded, some with tears in their eyes. Virgil could tell that they were barely keeping calm and he wracked his brain to think of some way to help them while he worked. What did kids like? Pirates? Superheroes? Astronauts…_

" _Alright, now while I do this how about I give you someone really nice to talk to, he's my younger brother and you know what, he's in space," Virgil offered._

 _Immediately the kids eyes lit up and they nodded eagerly despite their fear._

 _Fiddling with his monitor he brought up the hologram of John who immediately surveyed the terrified children._

" _Hey kids, this is John, he'll keep you company for a moment"._

 _Leaving his monitor for the kids to use he quickly made his way to the three unconscious girls and began to gently ease them through the opening, laying them gently on the other side where the fire and emergency crewman were waiting for him._

" _There's still seven more coming through!"_

 _Crawling back through he found the kids all laying on the ground to escape the worst of the smoke and laughing animatedly at his brother who was showing them how thinsg floated around him in space._

" _Sorry to halt the entertainment ladies and gents but it's time for you to get out of here"._

 _He helped feed the kids through the hole until only one was left, the boy with the two broken arms._

" _So, what're you in here for?" Virgil asked as he gathered the skinny boy up in his arms gently._

 _Coughing lightly, the little boy smiled up at him with a gap toothed grin._

" _I was gonna go home after they plastered my arms but I got tonsillitis"._

Virgil had been exalted to know he'd saved ten kids but he hadn't bargained on them infecting him in the process. Three days after the rescue he'd begun coughing as his throat began to hurt.

That sore throat had started mildly but had ended up being red and inflamed, every work sent his throat grating like sandpaper. He had a pretty good guess what had happened but after being dragged to med bay by his grandmother Brains had confirmed his theory, he had tonsillitis.

It was worse this morning as he stumbled out to the kitchen and collapsed in to the closest chair.

"You look like death warmed over".

Virgil lifted his exhausted gaze to glare lightly at Scott who was leant up against the kitchen counter nursing a cup of coffee.

"I feel like it too," Virgil rasped, his voice scratchy and raw.

Wincing in sympathy, Scott sidled over and took the seat next to him before pulling him in to a warm hug.

"Did you sleep better last night? I know you didn't sleep a wink on Tuesday," Scott asked gently as Virgil relaxed in his hug.

"I got an hours sleep tops, barely closed my eyes, I'm so tired that I can barely function and yet my throat is in too much pain to let me sleep," Virgil complained roughly, frustration oozing in to his tone.

Scott sent him a pointed look as Virgil bent his head up to face his brother.

"You know Brains offered to get you some pain medication to help you sleep, you know you need it," Scott reminded him swiftly.

Virgil braced himself for yet another argument.

For the past three days of his sickness he had been offered pain medication constantly and Virgil was adamant that he would NOT take the medicine. He had no idea how it had started but for years he had prescribed medicines for his brothers, and yet he refused to ever take any himself unless it was perfectly necessary.

He had an overwhelmingly strong hate of meds, he never saw the point in taking them for sickness and sleep after all these were natural things and so they would run their course naturally, what was the point in introducing drugs to the mix.

His brothers thought differently

However the usual arguments didn't come and surprised he glanced up a smiling Scott.

"If you don't want it that's alright. I'll go make you a cup of coffee and you can drink it before heading back up to bed," his brother reassured softly.

Nodding eagerly Virgil was released from his hug and repositioned so he could lay his head on the table until Scott came back.

Five minutes later he was nursing his own cup of coffee and he and Scott were drinking in companionable silence.

The warmth of the coffee seeped in to his exhausted bones and he sagged where he sat, eyes fluttering to half mast as he struggled to put together his sluggish thoughts.

Noticing his situation Scott chuckled and hauled him to his feet.

" Come on little bro, off to be with you, you can sleep off this sickness".

Virgil barely remembered the stumbling walk to his room but he found himself infinitely thankful that he hadn't changed out of his pajamas yet. Being tucked in to bed by his oldest brother was something he hadn't experienced in a while but it was nice to know Scott still had it in him.

A warm hand stroked his midnight hair as his eyes slipped closed and darkness swallowed him.

" You take care of us all the time Virge, let us take care of you for once".

Watching his younger brother drift off to sleep Scott smirked, turning off the lights as he moved to leave. No one had to tell his brother that there had been sleeping pills and painkillers in his coffee, after all, sometimes a big brother had to do what he had to do to care for his little fledglings. 

_**So here we wrap it up! I know it may not be what some of you were expecting but I hope it was still okay. Though I need another vote, your options this time are:**_

 _ **Sick/Hurt Scott (cause you know you love him and his dimples)**_

 _ **Sick/Hurt John because honestly I can't get enough of the spaceman.**_

 _ **Explosion or disaster on Tracy Island**_

 _ **Lost Tracy brothers (this can be interpreted in whatever way you want)**_


	9. Catastrophes

_**So the winning prompt was: Disaster on Tracy island but I managed to tie in whump for almost everyone!**_

Bad luck seemed to run in the Tracy family, especially on birthdays.

After the failed surprise party for Virgil's birthday two months previously, they finally managed to successfully throw a surprise party for Brains. Their resident engineer was ecstatic that they had remembered and even more ecstatic when he learned that Grandma Tracy had NOT made the cake.

Kayo was flying back in thunderbird shadow but due to a storm had told everyone to start without her whilst she continued her way back.

"Just crouch down a little more their Alan so we can see Gordon a little better in the back," Grandma Tracy called out, adjusting the focus on her camera.

The boys had decided to get a group shot on the cliffside and were arranged perfectly for her newest photo for the family albums.

Brains, in his purple striped party hat was grinning profusely, obviously loving being part of the group again.

"That's perfect! Now just hold still you boys".

Poising to make sure that the shot was absolutely perfect one last time she paused at the sound of a small rumble.

Apparently the boys had noticed as well and Alan was craning his head to try and figure out where the deep rumble was resonating from. John frowned slightly as he began to feel a minute tremor beneath his boots and his eyes widened in fear as he turned to grab on to his oldest brother.

"Scott-"

That was as far as he got before the ground beneath him collapsed and he became weightless with barely time to scream. 

The world was shaking.

The sea was churning.

A loud roaring noise had penetrated his eardrums and sent his head pulsing painfully. What was going on?

He could hardly tell where was up and where was down as the ground shook relentlessly and various screams rose above the cacophony.

A moment later Alan was hitting the shaking ground and curling in to fetal position in the hopes of somehow finding comfort in the confusion.

It seemed like forever before the blurring colours and shaking earth dissipated and Alan was left panting and wide eyed on the grass, clutching at himself in a vain attempt for protection.

His muddled thoughts began to clear when the worried face of his older brother Virgil filled his vision.

"Alan!" He realized his brother had been shouting for some time.

"Y-yeah Virgil, w-what happened?"

"Earthquake, and a big one at that," Virgil growled, eyes dark and grim as he surveyed their situation.

Attempting to sit up Alan gasped at the sudden flare of pain in his wrist, remembering that he had landed on it during his fall.

Immediately it was being trapped and carefully looked over by a mother henning Virgil who winced in sympathy when the deep emerging bruising and clearly broken bone was testament to his scrutiny.

"You've broken your wrist Alan and I know it hurts but I need you to go carefully to the edge of the cliff and see if you can see the others, I've sprained my ankle and I can't really move," Virgil ordered, shaking Alan gently to get him to focus.

Eyes flashing with fear at the thought of his brothers having gone over the edge, Alan scrambled upwards, passing his grandma who appeared to be fine but clearly in shock by her lax face and halted motion.

Reaching the edge of the cliffside he lay flat on his stomach and glanced over the edge carefully, almost shrieking at the sight that beheld him.

"Alan, can you see them?"

Clearing his throat and blinking back sudden tears he turned his head to holler back at Virgil.

"Scott and John are down there on a ledge but John's unconscious and I think Scott is too!"

Straining his ears for the sound of his brothers voices he caught sight of two figures surfacing from the churning waves. The both of them splashed frantically for a few moments before one swam over to the other to help steady them.

"HELP!" Came the faded cry from below after a few moments had elapsed.

Zeroing in on the figures Alan huffed out a breathe of relief as he identified Gordon's orange shirt far below.

"It's Brains! He landed in the water but he seems to be okay, and Gordon' with him as well! He's pointing for the beach so I think they're going to swim for it," Alan reported to Virgil swiftly, his heart soaring at the thought of having at least one brother and their family friend moving towards safety. Now to help the others.

"That's good Alan, but do you think you could try and wake up Scott or John?"

Swallowing his worry Alan voiced his consent to Virgil's order and began the tough process of trying to help his beloved brothers from so far away. 

Scott's head was pounding away as if Virgil's fists were in his brain.

He grimaced as he blinked his eyes open blearily, trying to ignore the incessant garbled words being shouted at him, everything seemed to be out to remind him of his aching head.

As he shifted he realized blearily that not only was it his aching head an issue, but his ribs were pushing painfully in his chest, and he just knew that one was broken.

"ugh," he grunted unintelligibly, managing to swallow down his sudden nausea and sit up against the hard rock wall.

Wait, rock wall?

Blinking the blurriness out of his eyes, the pain flared in his head as his mind tried to process that large amount of stimuli suddenly pouring in.

He was not at the party.

He was injured.

And the incessant sound in his ears had sharpened in to the terrified voice of his baby brother Alan.

Glancing upwards he realized what had happened.

The cliffside had broken away when the earthquake had hit and he had fallen down and landed on a ledge.

"Alan?" He croaked roughly.

The small pale face up above was split with a smile and an excited voice yelled back at who he assumed was Virgil.

"Scott's awake!"

One thought occurred to him as he peered up at Alan.

John had been clutching his arm in panic when they had fallen so where was he? Gordon and Brains had been behind him and where were they?

His foot brushed something solid and his pain filled gaze sharpened to spot his middle brother laying unconscious in front of him, blood dried all over his face from a nasty gash on his temple. Berating himself for not having noticed him sooner, Scott scooted closer to check out his middle brother.

"Scott! I need you to check on John but stay put, Kayo will come and lower a harness in Thunderbird Shadow when she arrives in half an hour, will you be okay till then?" Alan hollered from up above.

Pausing on his way to check on John he glanced up at his baby brother for a quick moment.

"Yeah Alan, we'll be fine down here".

He did not add the silent _I hope_ …

Shaking his head to clear himself of his negative thoughts and ignoring the sharp ache that produced he bent over his brother and put a tentative hand on his brother's cheek, breathing shallowly to stave off the sharp pains in his chest.

He had to get John to wake up.

"Johnny? Can you wake up for me?" He asked, tapping his brother's cheek gently.

No response.

Brows furrowed in concern he wracked his brain to try and remember what Virgil used to do when he was trying to bring people around. Sternum rub! That was it.

Forming his hand in to a fist he pressed on the sensitive area and elicited a small groan from his brother whose face scrunched up in discomfort.

"Come on Johnny, I know you don't like it but if you don't open your eyes I'll have to do it again," Scott implored, hoping his brother would respond more positively.

His patience was rewarded when hazy blue eyes cracked open slightly to stare up at him in confusion.

"Scott?" John asked roughly, squinting up at his older brother.

Sighing in relief Scott gently helped John to sit up and shuffled behind him so the two of them were leaning up against the cliff wall.

"Yeah bro, I'm here. You remember what happened?"

John's brow furrowed, his normally perfectly styled hair is disarray.

"The earth was shaking?" He muttered after a moment, leaning further in to Scott's side only to pull back at his brother's hiss of pain.

"Scott? Where are you hurt?" John asked quickly, blue eye wide with concern and guilt.

Putting a consoling hand on his brother's shoulder Scott smiled briefly at his worried sibling.

"It's alright, I've just got a broken rib or two, you didn't do any harm. I may have a slight concussion but I'll bet you do too. Where are you injured?"

John ran his hands over himself, checking out all his limbs one by one, only to yelp in pain when he moved his left leg.

"I don't know for sure but I reckon my left leg is broken or at least deeply bruised," John hissed through gritted teeth, closing his eyes against the sudden pain.

A warm arm encircling his shoulders had them opening again as Scott pulled him closer.

"We'll get help soon Johnny, but for now how about the two of us try not to shift around too much and injure ourselves further. I barely see you anymore, how about we catch up while we wait for Kayo to get here?" Scott suggested jovially.

Huffing out a small laugh, John settled back, making sure not to jostle his leg or Scott's ribs as he did so.

"What do you want to know?"

"I don't know, how's the weather up there in space?"

"Really, Scott? Really?" 

**_I was pressed for time today so it may be a bit of a short fic. Do you want a part two? If not here are the options:_**

 ** _1\. Part two of this fic_**

 ** _2\. Intruder on Tracy Island + a brother hostage_**

 ** _3\. au. You guys can have input as to what that au is._**


	10. Hostage

Jeff Tracy was always the favourite.

No matter what room he entered he managed to be the center of attention, and when he decided to pursue a task he was brilliant on the first try.

Why did that man have to be so gifted?

No one knew.

And then the golden child had been elected top of his class at NASA's training facility and had become engaged to the most beautiful woman to ever walk the earth.

The woman that James Jackson had been trying to get with for years.

It wasn't enough that Lucille had forgotten him, but so had everyone else, that is, until that damn Tracy had caught him selling drugs in the washroom and got him sent to prison for a twenty five year sentence.

In the prison common room he'd watched as Jeff arose to fame as having successfully lived on the moon for months and having become a billionaire with five sons to carry on his great lineage.

Lucille, his one true love, had chosen Jeff to spend the rest of her life with, and if he couldn't have her or the fame that had been stolen from him, then James would just have to court something much sweeter.

Revenge.

"It's been twenty five years Tracy, and while you've been living your perfect life I've been planning. You better watch your sons, Tracy, because they're just the first on my list to suffer". 

"Hey Gordo! Do you want to jump in the pool with me?" Thirteen year old Alan asked excitedly.

Fifteen year old Gordon Tracy sighed as his energetic younger sibling raced over to him, bouncing up and down happily.

"I can't Alan, I've got to go work on painting Thunderbird 4. You know I can't join the others on rescues until I'm old enough, and the moment I am I want to have my vessel finished," Gordon explained patiently.

Alan groaned in annoyance, turning pleading blue eyes up at his usual partner in crime.

"But no one wants to hang out with me this afternoon! Can't you paint her later?"

"No, Alan. But if you want something to do then I guess you can come paint with me," Gordon offered at seeing the dejected face his brother had pulled.

A happy squeal relayed Alan's answer as the two of them took the stairs to the hanger, rushing to beat each other down to the bottom.

When they had collected the obnoxiously yellow paint and necessary tools Gordon led the way to his almost completed Thunderbird, propped up on its platform.

"She's looking great Gordon," Alan murmured appreciatively as he gazed longingly at the beautiful watercraft.

"She'll perform even greater too! I'll be the best in the water, just you wait and see," Gordon bragged, his pride and affection for the craft filling his tone easily.

Alan walked slowly around the craft, trailing his fingers over her smooth sides and immaculate thrusters.

"She's beautiful Gordon. One day I'll go on missions with you and I'll have a bright red Thunderbird of my own!" Alan chirped excitedly.

Gordon smirked at his younger brother as he handed over a paintbrush dipped in bright yellow paint.

"Well while you're dreaming you can get to work painting the driver's door".

So innocent.

Two little boys as of yet unaccustomed to the darkness of the world.

"What a pity, you're about to get acquainted," Chuckled James softly as he watched from behind a large silver ship.

He'd spent years planning.

He knew the rough whereabouts of Tracy Island but had been unable to pinpoint it exactly, that is, until he had been contacted by someone who did know.

The Hood.

That was what they called him in prison, word was he had a vendetta out on the Tracy's and was willing to help anyone like minded enough to attempt an attack on the family.

With the Hood's help he had steered his rented vessel to the shores of the island and had spent the past few hours working out how to get in to the hanger. Thankfully two little boys had left the door open for him long enough that he could slip inside and take up position with his camera and guns in hand.

Grinning softy to himself he crept forward, eyes riveted on the two laughing boys who were currently splattering themselves with paint.

Gordon and Alan, he remembered.

Creeping silently forward over the sound of their laughter and raised the gun and fixed a devilish smirk on his scarred lips.

"Well hello there little ones". 

"Long day?"

"The longest," Jeff grumbled as he slumped down in to his desk chair, and faced his son with half lidded eyes.

Handing over a cup of steaming black coffee Scott smirked at his father's plight and the way his eyes lit up at the sight of the drink.

"You, my son, are a godsend".

They sat in silence as the sunset sent orange and pink glowing light through the glass outer walls and filtered the last of the days warmth.

Finally content after his long day at work with the GDF, Jeff closed his eyes and let the warmth of the coffee seep in to his bones as Scott dozed lightly beside him.

His peace was broken a few minutes later by the loud and obnoxious beeping of his laptop.

Rubbing his tired eyes and casting a glance to his tired son who had been woken rather suddenly, Jeff opened the screen, only to be met by a blaring red signal on his screen.

"Isn't that the intruder alarm?"

"Yes, it is," Jeff confirmed gravely, suddenly wide awake as his mind processed the fact that someone had infiltrated his home and might possibly be hostile.

Clicking on the icon for video surveillance in the area that the motion censor had been tripped, he found himself looking at the hanger and zooming in on the terrified gazes of his youngest sons.

Both were filling the camera's screen and front the way they were positioned were obviously kneeling down. The restrained tears in young Alan's blue eyes and the plain terror in Gordon's had Jeff snarling wordlessly.

"Boys, what's happening," Jeff asked softly, trying to be calm for his obviously scared children.

The camera zoomed out slightly at Scott's command, allowing Jeff full view of the gun poised at the back of Gordon's head and the grinning face of someone he hadn't seen in years.

It was HIM.

But how? It had been so long since the incident… He'd barely begun his training at the time and James Jackson had been set to lead the moon mission. Then Jeff had happened upon the illegal drug trade in the washrooms late at night, and after consulting his mother over what he should do, he had reported the incident. The pride his instructors had shown towards him after he had stopped a potential drug ring in their trainee's midst had caused him to be promoted and given the accused's position on the mission.

Tough the neatly groomed and suave young man he had known had been changed and warped by his time in prison.

No longer was his dark hair neatly slicked back but instead was wild whilst his deep brown eyes had taken on a sharp and feral quality, accentuated by the vivid red scarring across his face.

" I know I've set of your petty defenses Tracy, and I know you can hear me so here's what's gonna happen. I've got your sons, and I want to talk to you face to face. Come down here now or the elder one dies," James stated sickly, clicking off the safety and pressing his gun hard in to the back of Gordon's head.

Jeff locked eyes with Scott who was gripping the table with terrified eyes.

"Scott, get Virgil and get back to the screen, notify John as well. I'll communicate with you once I'm down there. Keep Brains and your grandmother away," Jeff ordered swiftly, blue gaze hardening with fury at the thought of his terrified sons below them.

"Dad please, you can't go down there, he'll kill you!" Scott argued desperately, latching on to his arm swiftly.

Jeff glared hard at his son, roughly shoving his eldest's hands away from him.

"And if I don't they'll kill Gordon and Alan. Do. As. I. Say," Jeff snapped fiercely, uncaring as to the hurt that bled in to Scott's gaze as he was rejected. His sons needed him now, he could deal with harsh words later.

Cowering back slightly Scott nodded jerkily and sprinted off to get Virgil from his painting studio so they could call John together.

A small inkling of regret tugged at Jeff's mind at the thought of the way he had acted towards his son but he pushed it away for the moment, he had an old acquaintance to meet. 

Stepping in to the hangar he was immediately met with the sight of his sons cowering under the hand of his old enemy and he seethed inwardly at the sight of the tears that had finally spilled down Alan's tanned cheeks.

The looks of terror that had pasted themselves on his son's faces didn't belong there.

And the sadistically grinning madman didn't belong there either.

"I came, now put the gun away James, the boys aren't a part of this," Jeff growled, hoping that without the weapon there could be a chance for a peaceful resolution.

A part of him knew better.

Of course he'd planned for every contingency under the sun. His defenses were impeccable and his weapons even more so, there were about ten buttons he could push right then and there to severely injure and kill his enemy, the only issue was that whatever harmed him harmed his sons.

That was not a risk he was about to take.

Lasers, mounted guns, flash grenades, all of which could do significant damage and deter unwanted visitors, and yet after the fiasco with John on his birthday, Jeff didn't want to take any measures against intruders without first knowing all the facts.

"As a matter of fact they are. You ruined my life, Jeff Tracy, and with a squeeze of my finger I can ruin yours indefinitely," James taunted, switching the gun to Alan's head to show off the power with which he could decide the fate of his children.

And oh how it made Jeff's blood boil with rage.

"So why don't you? What stays your hand?" Jeff inquired icily.

A sadistic glee perched itself on the intruder's face at his statement.

"I know you have other sons, Tracy, and the only way to make you truly suffer is to rid you of all five. Soon the others will wonder where you are and they'll come here all unsuspecting…the perfect targets," James purred happily, causing Gordon and Alan to freeze up with worry for their brothers as their eye hardened in to twin glares. Wisely though, they kept silent.

Jeff felt a smile want to itch on to his face.

James had no idea that Scott had been with him or that they would be watching them on the monitors and hearing this. Another thought sprung in to his head as his mind played over the villain's words, or specifically word.

Unsuspecting…

Suddenly it was as though Jeff had finally seen the light of day. He did have one defense in the hanger that would definitely leave James unsuspecting and was likely to stop any bloodshed.

Invisible to the eye and quickly effective.

Airborne sedatives in an invisible gas form.

The idea was great but one problem remained. The dosage was for adults, and Gordon and Alan were children barely in their teens, could their bodies withstand that amount?

Which was better?

Neutralize the threat with he danger of killing his sons by bullet?

Or possibly cause them to fall in to a coma or worse because of the high dosage that would be released?

Only one way did not end up with the children dead.

He knew his sons were watching on the monitors anxiously, and better yet he knew that when John was a kid who was too afraid to talk in public places he, Scott and Virgil would tap out morse code on each other's hands.

Maybe it was time for them to remember their previous skills.

Keeping his hands subtly behind his back he tapped out a message as he spoke verbally to James as a distraction.

"If you hurt my sons I'll end you. You ended up in prison because you deserved it for what you did! Illegal drugs in a NASA training facility? You had to know that you'd eventually be caught," Jeff ground out evenly.

 _Release airborne sedatives, then come down and cuff the intruder until the GDF can get here. Virgil prepare the medbay_.

Jeff tapped out quickly whilst James' attention was elsewhere.

He had to keep the distraction going, while it would work to keep the villain unawares it would also be kinder to his hyperventilating sons who would fall asleep peacefully and wake up in safety.

 _I hope this doesn't kill you boys…_

"That wasn't all it was!" James snarled in response, dark eyes narrowing menacingly.

Feeling a slight dopey feeling coming over him Jeff fought the urge to smile.

The message had been received.

He could tell that it was affecting Alan and Gordon as well, their eyes were beginning to glaze over as they unknowingly inhaled the sedatives with each panicked breath.

"Then what was it? Why did you feel the need to destroy me? What is this really about, James?" Jeff demanded as his thoughts began to fade away and his limbs turned to jelly.

James whined softly as he slumped to the floor, the loss of his grip causing an unconscious Alan and Gordon to fall with him.

"It was her. It was about Lucille," James whispered brokenly before his breathing deepened and his eyes closed slowly.

 _ **Lucille**_ …Jeff thought sluggishly before darkness enclosed his vision and he felt himself falling in to oblivion. 

"Dad? Can you hear me?' A familiar voice asked, breaking through the muggy haze that seemed to have overtaken his brain.

His eyes felt weighed down with boulders but he opened them sluggishly to see the hazy outline of his eldest son who almost sobbed in relief as their gazes met.

"Oh thank the heavens dad. You scared me so much," Scott murmured with a sharp exhale of relief.

"Gordon? Alan?" Jeff attempted to ask but his voice came out sluggish and incomprehensible.

Scott seemed to understand what he meant and he helped Jeff turn to face the two medical beds next to his.

"They're fine dad, Brains checked them out and the dosage was just low enough to avoid long lasting damage. They'll sleep for a day or two and wake up dopey but fine," Scott informed gently, the tense lines in his forehead smoothing out when he glanced at the peacefully sleeping kids.

"You know I turned down playing with Alan because I was tired? I kept thinking to myself when that awful man broke in that if he survived I'd never say no to him again. I almost didn't have two younger brothers to have fun with today," Scott confided, a suppressed sob in his tone as he leaned wearily on the bed.

"I'm sorry…for being cruel to you son, I know how much you worried about us," Jeff whispered hoarsely, clutching his son's hand as his drowsiness threatened to pull him back under.

"I know dad. It's okay now, James got handed off to the GDF two hours ago and in a few hours Virgil will come down to relieve me of watch duty. You just sleep now dad, I know he won't say it but John will want to see you too when you're better rested," Scott advised softly, squeezing his father's warm hand strongly.

Smiling at his son as his eyes slipped closed he couldn't help but think,

 _I'll protect our boys with my life Lucille_ … 

**And that concludes the prompt for intruder on Tracy Island that almost everyone voted for! Geez that took forever to write… Anyway, the next prompts to choose from are:**

 **Two brothers trapped in a cave in (votes for which two)**

 **Fevers make brothers hallucinate strange things… (vote for which brother/s are afflicted)**

 **Wisdom teeth (enough said)**


	11. Disability

Alan can still remember the cave-in that ruined his life.

Three months ago he and Virgil had been rescuing coal miners from a collapsing tunnel and in a daring act of bravery, Alan had sacrificed himself to push an elderly miner out the cave entrance before the rocks fell, blocking him off from the outside world.

It took them hours to reach him, hours in which he talked to a terrified John on the comms as his older brother watched him get weaker and weaker from lack of oxygen.

With the increased pressure and an intensive head injury from a rockslide during an aborted rescue attempt Alan wound up with severe damage to his ears. 

_He hated waking up in the infirmary._

 _Especially when Scott and the others were gathered around his bedside with wide eyes and pity filled faces._

 _He tried to speak, feeling his throat work as he croaked out something unintelligible, something he did not hear at all. And yet by the looks on his brother's faces they had heard him._

 _Gordon spoke then._

 _At least it appeared he had, since Alan could see his mouth moving and could sort of make out the words being directed at him if he focused enough on his elder sibling's lips._

 _When Virgil approached him with sorrowful chocolate eyes and a wad of note paper her lifted tired eye lids to read the message being held out, confused as to why this method of communication was being used._

 _ **I'm sorry Alan, but the damage to your ears has caused you to become 90% deaf**_ _._

 _The words didn't register with his exhausted and pained mind for days, but when they did he found himself raging furiously with tears wreaking havoc down his youthful face. He was sixteen and he would never again be able to go in to space because of his disability. He would have to kiss goodbye to Thunderbird 3._

His shiny red hearing aids were a sore spot with him for the next three months, and now as he sat at his windowsill mutinously staring at them in his hands, he found himself wishing he'd never saved that old man. Maybe then he would have had his life back. He would have moved on from the tragedy and jumped straight back up again instead of being tied down by his stupid injuries.

Brains had been doing a kind thing for him when he presented him with the shiny aids, and at first it seemed hopeful now that Alan could finally hear his brothers again. But no hearing aid would ever allow him to go back up in to space, the pressure and takeoff and landings would be impossible on his damaged ears that couldn't pressurize on their own.

He was earthbound, and oh how he hated it with every breath.

As Scott watched his baby brother stare furiously out of his window, tears slipping slowly out of his cornflower blue eyes, he found himself sighing inwardly at his sibling's plight.

He had tried everything to cheer his brother up, from giving him things to do to take his mind off of things, to immersing him in his school studies, to taking him out on low flying missions, to being compassionate and kind on Alan's 'bad days', and even trying once to be the tough loving parent to kick his baby in to gear. That last one had gone terribly, and after a weak of stony silence when Alan had turned off his hearing aids to ignore him, Scott finally admitted defeat with the good cop bad cop approach.

His only hope lay in one resource he hadn't yet attempted to use.

He'd been meaning to invite his girlfriend over anyway, but now with Alan's continued misery, it seemed like the perfect time to attempt one last plan of action before admitting final defeat.

Taking out his silver flip phone (which was not 'outdated' thank you Gordon) he dialed a number he knew by heart, waiting for the dial tone to beep away on the other side of the globe.

Finally a tired but amused voice answered his call.

"Scotty, you know I love you but with our time zone difference you must know that four in the morning is not a great time to call," the sleepy but melodious voice answered.

Chuckling in amusement as he realized his mistake, Scott replied to his girlfriend, hope building in his heart now that he finally had a plan.

" I'm sorry babe, but I really need your help on this mission, think I can convince you to come check out the island for the first time?"

"I'm in".

"Good, oh, and bring your _old equipment_ …" 

Scott landed Thunderbird 1 down on the tarmac of the GDF airstrip right on time to pick up his girlfriend as her flight arrived next to his.

Sure he was being just a little extravagant by flying over in one of the Thunderbirds but he was allowed to show off sometimes, and besides, she'd probably get a kick out of it anyway.

The cargo plane opened its bay door and a swarm of GDF members who were back from extended leave or external missions exited the plane, moving to take their places at the base smoothly, obviously used to assimilating back in to the forces.

Scott jumped down to the tarmac, his form fitting uniform letting him stand out like a beacon amongst olive and camouflage patterned fatigue uniforms. He waited until he spied a familiar tanned woman sauntering his way, a cap keeping her curly black hair up in a loose pony tail that swayed with her strange but unique walk.

She caught sight of him and waved energetically, a smile splitting her tanned face, white teeth flashing in her wide grin and eyes crinkling with laugh lines.

" Scotty!" She called in greeting, fast walking to reach him as jogged the rest of the distance.

They crashed together in an awkward tangle of limbs and both ended up laughing in each other's arms before kissing passionately when they regained their breath. Scott felt his face heat up at the wolf whistles and chuckles of the GDF operatives who walked past the young couple.

" Way to go Captain Kane!" A young man yelled in amusement.

Breaking away from the kiss for a moment his girlfriends yelled to address her friend.

"I am still your superior officer Private Jude!"

Finally they pulled apart and Scott found himself leading her towards Thunderbird 1 with a contended smile on his face.

"It is so good to have you back again, those extended missions have me worried sick about you, especially when you volunteer your squadron to go to tribe lands," Scott murmured lowly, slinging and arm around her shorter, smaller shoulders.

" You forget Scott that I come from tribe lands, they pose no danger to me or my men, but the wildfire certainly posed a threat to their lives. I was the only one they trust to send aid in and out, foreigners just aren't trusted to deal fairly with the natives," She argued shortly, amber eyes sparking with passion for her people and causing Scott's heart to skip a beat.

"Well after three months apart and so much badgering by my family, I thin it's high time they met you in person instead of just through hastily written letters, in your own blood no less," Scott murmured lowly, adding his disapproval to his last statement.

"You know the people's customs, a letter may only be sealed in blood to prove the loyalties of its writer, otherwise it can't be sent off, and I had to contact you somehow my love".

Scott shook his head in amusement, lending a hand to help her in to the cockpit of his beloved bird, watching with pride as she took in the state of the art machinery with awed gaze and an impressed smirk.

"You sure go all out to meet the family," She chuckled deeply, running a tanned palm along the shiny consoles.

"May I introduce you, Captain Kilani Kane, to Thunderbird 1, my first love beside you of course. And now, we may commence with our mission," Scott replied, strapping on his harness and giving Kilani a hand with hers, much to her chagrin. A silence

" I still don't understand what helping your youngest brother has to do with my old equipment," Kilani spoke up after he'd taken off and the silence had stretched for a few minutes.

"Well sit back and I'll explain it to you, you see it has to do with an accident Alan had just days after you left for your mission…" 

Alan loved his eldest brother dearly but the thought of meeting his girlfriend grated on his nerves.

Everyone was so excited, after having received her letters that she'd sent to each of them just before leaving for her mission, they'd been obsessed with meeting her in person.

It wasn't every day that one of their family fell in love and managed to stay in love for an extended period of time. Grandma Tracy had been rushing around like crazy all week at the prospect of finally having a potential future granddaughter coming over, and allegedly John was even coming down from space to see her.

Alan knew it was important to Scott that he made an effort today, but he had no idea what to expect, none of them did.

They hadn't seen any pictures of her, they hadn't had any descriptions of her whatsoever, he didn't even know what she liked apart from Scott. All he knew was that she was a GDF Captain with the medals to prove it, and she was apparently from the most remote part of outback Australia, also her letters were always sealed with blood. That was kind of disturbing.

Whoever she was, the rumbling of Thunderbird One's engine pulled in to the hangar bay and the whir of the landing gear grated on his tender ears.

Grimacing in annoyance, he turned down his aids, stood and took a comb to his hair, at least attempting to look presentable in the presence of company.

In a button down red shirt and ironed pants he looked every bit the billionaire's son, and the perfect little brother.

With a small grunt of annoyance he trudged downstairs to the living room where the rest of his brothers had already assembled along with his grandmother and Brains.

"What do you think she's like, Virgil?" Gordon asked eagerly, tapping his feet anxiously.

"I don't know Gordo, but I assume she's nice just like Scott".

A moment later Scott emerged from the elevator, tugging playfully on a laughing young woman's arm, her bright laughter immediately setting the mood at ease.

"Slow down Scott!" She admonished with a chuckle and a moment later Scott stopped in front of them breathlessly, eyes wide with excitement.

"Everyone, I know you've all been waiting to meet her, this is my girlfriend, Captain Kilani Kane of the GDF".

Tugging on her arm, Kilani's visage finally came in to view and Alan's breath was sucked out of his lungs as he took one look at her.

It wasn't because she was beautiful; it was because she was all…wrong.

He wasn't trying to be mean or anything but that was the only way he could describe the warped and scarred features, and the disfiguration of missing limbs and garishly plastic prosthetics.

Half of her face was unmarred, showing a stunning beauty that should be carried all the way across, but the other half was covered in dark pink rippled skin and scar tissue, with a milky white and clawed excuse for an eye staring unflinchingly straight at him.

The missing arm only made the image so much worse.

Alan, for once in his life, did not know what to say and apparently neither did the rest of his family, but Scott's narrowed eyes jumpstarted Gordon in to action again.

"It is a pleasure to meet you Kilani, Scott has told us so much about you already that I feel like I've known you for years. I'm Gordon, the most handsome brother," Gordon greeted, shaking her unmarred hand eagerly and putting on every ounce of his charm.

Kilani broke out in to a smile, stretching the scarred side of her face until it seemed to ripple in the light.

" Well it's finally time I got to put some faces to the names in Scott's calls and letters. Nice to meet you Gordon, and to all of you as well, I'm honoured to finally be here," Kilani murmured, not seeming the least bit bothered by their staring.

One by one his brothers and family introduced themselves, and soon Kilani was animatedly retelling her latest mission to a rapt audience.

Alan had not moved and had not taken his eyes off of her.

Grandma Tracy was laughing loudly as Kilani shared a hilarious part of her tale, and the older woman's eyes seemed alight at having another female in her house after so long.

Brains seemed incredibly interested in her prosthetic arm, a glinting silver thing that creaked and whirred loudly when she moved her hands in her exaggerated story.

Soon though, a mission chime was brought through, and a reluctant family split up to head off and save whoever was in trouble this time, apologizing profusely for a quick exit.

Kilani waved them off until she and Alan were the only ones left in the living room and silence had descended once more.

"Something catch your eye?" Kilani asked evenly, making Alan jump as she turned her sightless milky eye to stare at him from across the room.

Obviously she'd noticed his staring.

"No, I mean yes, it's just that…you're not at all what I expected," Alan murmured in embarrassment, ducking his head to hide his blush.

A warm chuckle reached his ears as Kilani stood with a shriek of metal, limping slightly as she made her way over to sit next to him on the window seat.

Yet another thing he noticed, the slightly rusted prosthetic leg mostly covered by her uniform, was obviously not cooperating with her movements.

"I find that I rarely am what people expect. I assume that you would be Alan?" She greeted softly, holding out a hand for him to shake.

A bitter scowl crossed his face as he shook her hand grudgingly.

"The stupid hearing aids gave it away didn't they? Scott told you all about his weak disabled little brother," Alan muttered.

A warm hand landed on his shoulder, bringing his gaze back to her face that was so much stranger close up.

"Actually he wrote to me about how amazing it was that at your age you were performing rescues right alongside him. The fact that you hadn't yet introduced yourself gave it away," she replied steadily, casting an approving glance over him.

He swallowed at the reminder of the older days, when he really was the amazing protégé, young, slightly reckless and a brave rescuer. Three months ago when he was perfect and with a bright future ahead.

"Well I don't do many rescues anymore," he sighed out.

A moment of silence passed before Kilani spoke, gazing out at the sea through the window as she did so, an almost wistful look on her face.

"Why not?" She asked softly after a moment's hesitation.

Immediately his eyes filled with fire and Alan stood, pacing angrily with his fists clenched in frustration.

"Isn't that obvious? I can't! That's why. I can't ever go back in to space again because my ears can't pressurize on their own and I'd end up doing even more damage! My brothers think I don't know but I've seen John training Scott late a night to operate Thunderbird 3. I'm done for, replaced, and useless to our team!" Alan raged, tense with the fury clawing around inside him.

Kilani gazed at him throughout it, blinking calmly and serenely through his fire.

"You are NOT useless, Alan Tracy. Not being able to go out in to space does not stop you from being apart of your team. Most of the rescues Scott writes me about have you rescuing people on Earth anyway! John takes care of most space rescues. You can be useful down here if you'd just stop feeling sorry for yourself and open your eyes," Kilani growled, getting up to stand at least a foot above him, her natural height allowing her to stare down at him critically.

She took his breath away.

Feeling sorry for himself? Of course he felt sorry for himself! He was 90% deaf, and a cripple, and to top it off, his brothers walked around him on eggshells as if afraid he'd break.

"I'm can feel as sorry for myself as I like, I'm done, I'm ruined, and it's not like you would understand anyway," Alan muttered, turning away to gaze at the floor.

A moment later his chin was roughly turned, forcing his gaze to meet the thunderous face of Kilani Kane.

" Really? You think I don't know how you feel? That I don't understand? I'm more of a cripple than you'll ever be, Alan Tracy, but the difference is, I've gotten up and made something of myself despite my disfigurement. I see the stares of my coworkers, I know people are disgusted by my face, but that doesn't mean I can't be the best damn GDF Captain on the force," She growled back before pausing a moment to take a deep breath.

"Your life is not over, no matter how bad it may seem. You have an opportunity here to prove everyone wrong, don't waste it. Try one rescue, just one, and if it doesn't go well then fine, you can quit, but you might be surprised". 

Three days later he was surprised.

Virgil and Gordon had been called out to help stabilize a falling apartment complex in danger of crushing a free clinic below it. He'd volunteered to join them, much to their surprise.

Much to his surprise, after jumping in to a pod to seal the cracks in the foundations with stabilizing foam while the others worked up top, he found himself falling back in to the rescue rhythm as though he'd never left. It felt as normal as waking up every morning, and he found himself actually enjoying the thrill of successfully averting disaster.

Arriving home, elated family had greeted him and they'd even had a big dinner to celebrate his return. His gifts were compliments mostly, but a bone-crushing hug from Kilani had him grinning madly.

"I knew you could do it," She murmured before breaking away from the hug, standing back with a proud smirk and twinkling eyes.

He did receive one other gift though.

Thunderbird 1.

Scott would pilot Thunderbird 3 from now on whenever it was needed, and he and Alan would share ownership on Thunderbird 1.

He was back. And despite being deaf, it felt good.

Maybe he wasn't so useless after all.


	12. The Feline Fantasy

Ever since their mother had left, all they had known was cold.

Well, cold and rain, to be exact.

The rain poured down around them, lightning flashing overhead as the five kittens curled around each other, hidden under the scant overhang of a shop front.

Scott lay on the outskirts of their pile, his silver tabby fur fluffed up against the cold and rain as he kept watch, blue eyes scanning for threats, or maybe even for their absent mother.

A small, cold nudge of a nose had him swiveling his head to face his younger black sibling, Virgil, who gazed at him with worried amber gaze.

"Scotty, the others aren't going to last much longer with mum," Virgil murmured softly, angling his head towards their shivering ball of younger brothers, their wet fur spiking as it dried in their shelter.

Scott's ears pressed closer to the back of his head in frustration as he curled tighter around John.

"I know Virge, but what can we do? She was supposed to come back two days ago, the others haven't even been weaned yet and they're starving and cold. We'll wait out the storm tonight and tomorrow we'll see what we can do," Scott replied softly, the weight of his new responsibility leaving him feeling entirely unprepared.

He and Virgil were weaned first, both able to survive without their silver tabby mother, Trinket, but their siblings were yet to be given this independence.

Virgil gazed back at him worriedly from where he hemmed in a pitifully shivering Gordon, both the older kittens choosing to stay on the outside as protection and warmth, leaving the youngest, Alan, to curl up in the warmest spot in the center.

The last few days had been hard. What with scrounging for food and water, being attacked by a stray dog which lead to numerous scrapes and cuts for each of them, and the relentless rainfall they were struggling to survive in this city.

Thunder crashed loudly, causing John to squirm weakly against Scott as he shot awake, blue eyes wide with fright.

Scott licked his brother's fur soothingly, the repetitive strokes calming the flaming orange tabby significantly.

"Scotty what's that noise?" John asked timidly.

Scott gently rearranged his brother so he was curled back up in the warmth, resting his chin on the younger's soft head.

" It's just a storm Johnny, go back to sleep, we'll watch over you".

And sleep he did, eyes closing and breathing leveling out in to soft breaths as he rejoined his younger siblings in slumber.

Virgil cast an approving eye over the exchange, noting the fact that his brother was the perfect comfort for his younger siblings.

"Nicely handled," he complimented softly.

Scott smirked at him, tail flicking slightly at the noise of yet another thunder blast.

" Thanks. You should get some sleep too, Virgil, tomorrow's going to be tough".

Virgil nodded and settled around Gordon, flicking his fluffy black tail around the younger amber kitten as he did so. Soon he too was asleep and eventually, despite wanting to keep watch and remain alert the cold seeping in to Scott's fur caused him to give in to sleep too.

The last thing he saw through half lidded eyes was light spilling out of the shop doorway and a pair of booted feet entering his vision. 

Veterinarian Jeff Tracy could of swore he heard meowing.

Maybe he was dreaming, after all he had been working hard all day at his clinic in upstate New York and he was practically asleep at his desk.

No animals were staying with him tonight, which was a relief since he and his grandmother who both lived up stairs from the clinic could finally have a peaceful night without barking dogs and squawking birdlife.

But as he ruffled through his papers at his desk he thought he heard small meows from outside during lulls in the thunder.

Standing up with an audible crack of his knees and back he slung on his white coat and walked to the door, turning on the outside light as he did so.

Opening the door he was hit with a blast of cold air and rain and he grimaced, now fully awake after the sleepily warm atmosphere of his office.

He scanned the ground outside looking the stray cat, Nero as he was often called, who seemed to want to be let in constantly. Usually Nero was the cause of meowing in the night but as he cast his gaze for the old white tomcat he found himself alighting on one of the most heart wrenching sights in his whole career.

Five absolutely tiny kittens lay curled around each other on his porch, soaking wet and shivering with cold.

Moving quickly he jogged to crouch beside them, caressing the fur of the largest silver kitten in the hopes of getting some movement.

The kitten squeaked softly at his touch and he sighed in relief, noting that at least this one was alive.

What he did feel however was how cold each kitten was as he touched them and he knew in that moment that he had to get the kittens inside out of the cold considering their soaking wet state and their young age.

He picked them up one by one until he had a bundle of assorted coloured kittens in his arms, carefully maneuvering them until he was able to carry them all inside, shutting the door with his foot to keep out the cold.

As he carried them in to the warm room he deposited them on the padded examination table, fetching a blanket at the last second to add an extra layer of warmth as he sought to examine his new friends. 

Scott awoke to warmth.

For the first time in days he was warm and cuddled in a soft blanket instead on wet and laying on the cold concrete that stunk of petrol fumes and yesterday's garbage.

Blearily he opened his blue eyes at the perfect moment to see a large, fleshy human hand descending towards Alan who was curled in to his side.

Instantly he was alert and jumping to his feet, fur fluffing out aggressively as he took a swipe at the hand that would dare to attack his brother.

A loud garbled human noise caused him to hiss loudly as the tall human man in white reared away from them, clutching at the hand he had scratched.

"Whoa there little one, I'm just trying to help, let me take a look at your brother," The human murmured and Scott hissed again in fright as another hand snaked out of nowhere to pluck Alan up from the table and the man in white moved a safe distance away, clutching his limp little brother in his grasp.

"Don't you touch my brother!" Scott snarled, raking the air with his claws and just daring the human to come close enough for him to swipe.

And yet he didn't and Scott found himself watching helplessly as the man took something looped around his neck and pressed it against Alan's tiny chest causing Alan to wiggle in his discomfort until it was moved and he could sleep again.

Scott paced worriedly, hating that his brother was out of reach so he set himself to watching the rest of his brothers, standing over them as they slept blissfully unaware of the dangers being faced.

The man poked and prodded Alan for many more minutes before he came back towards them causing Scott to snarl threateningly in his chest, apparently not scaring the man because he just laughed and placed Alan gently down before nudging him towards Scott, waiting until Scott took over nudging Alan back in to the pile of sleeping kittens.

Scott took his eyes off of the man for one second, one second to nudge Alan further in to the kitten pile for warmth, and in that second he found himself suddenly weightless, his paws leaving the hard surface top as vice like hands encircled his stomach and back.

He immediately struggled, claws unsheathing as he attacked the hands holding him.

" Let me go! Get your hands off of me!" Scott hissed wildly, giving everything he had to get out of the grip he was being held in.

"Stop that little one, I'm not trying to hurt you I'm just trying to help," The man said, none of the words registering with the furious kitten.

His loud meowing caused a chain reaction in his siblings, and with a small shiver, John and Gordon both awoke, eyes blinking languidly as they caught sight of the struggle going on across the room.

"Scotty! Scotty what's going on?" John mewed worriedly as he stood and raced to the edge of the table, stopping just in tie to avoid taking a header over the table edge.

Scott caught his eyes and ceased struggling to address his sibling.

"Johnny, get the others awake and get them moving, we need to get out of here! You know what mum said about the evil humans who hurt kittens when they catch them on the streets!" Scott mewed back before resuming his struggling with a vengeance as a distraction. He would not let his brothers be caught.

The silver kitten was proving to be the most spirited, difficult creature he had ever dealt with. The kitten kind of reminded Jeff of himself actually.

It was while trying to avoid being clawed and bitten that Jeff managed to catch a flash of colour in the corner of his eye as the rest of the kittens dived off of the table and on to the floor, scrabbling to find purchase so they could race away.

Placing the struggling silver tomcat on the table he raced to intercept them.

"Oh no you don't, little troublemakers, damn you boys were easier to handle when you were fast asleep and half frozen," Jeff muttered as he scooped them up in their attempt to flee before depositing them next to their hissing silver brother.

Hands on his hips he took one look at the frightened smaller kittens and the bristling older silver and black kittens respectively and he came to a decision, one that he would have hoped to avoid.

" You boys leave me no choice here, crazy kids," Jeff muttered before opening his side drawer, making sure to keep and eye on them at all times in case they attempted to bolt again

He moved over to the table with his tools in hand before going for the spitting silver tabby first, knowing he would be the most difficult to control.

"Come here you little fighter," Jeff murmured softly, picking up the kitten who clearly did not want to be picked up again if his yowling was any indication.

He was a good chef, and known for being quick and precise with his work, and sure enough one carefully placed injection was all it took for the silver tabby's struggles to slow and his eyes to droop comically.

Scratching the tabby behind the ears, he was delighted to hear the warm purr this elicited as he coaxed the kitten towards sleep he desperately needed if his pitiful state was any indication.

"That's it, there you go little warrior, take a nap and you'll be all fixed up and warm when you wake. I promise, you'll learn to like me," Jeff murmured as the silver kitten's breaths evened out and his eyes seemed to sink closed, purr dying in his throat as they did so.

Placing the tabby back down beside his brothers he tried hard to ignore the fact that his siblings were mewing over the sleeping kitten as if he'd killed the poor creature.

The dark orange kitten was the brightest coloured cat he'd ever seen in his career and he handled him carefully as the tyke squirmed uncomfortably at his touch. At least he wasn't violent like the first.

A scratch under the chin distracted the younger kitten until he was practically a melting puddle of purring fur in his hands when the prick of he injection came.

"Aww, well you obviously like to be petted little guy! Certainly you're better behaved than your older brother".

When all the kittens were snoozing away and finally getting the rest they needed, Jeff finally found himself in enough peace to work, cleaning and applying antiseptic to dirtied cuts and abrasions, cleaning teeth and claws, measuring sizes and weights, recording breathing and heart rates and giving antibiotic shots to stave off infection, finally swaddling the siblings in heated blankets with hot water bottles tucked in. Now all they needed was to sleep it all off and slowly warm their bodies again.

It was time he introduced them to Grandma Tracy, and oh boy would they be coddled. He only hoped he could teach the stray kittens a little about love and warmth before they yet again tried to attack him. 

"Jeff, just what have I told you about bringing your work home?" Grandma Tracy grouched after he crested the stairs to their apartment above the clinic.

Jeff chuckled as he moved to pull back the blankets and show her the ball of assorted kittens he held.

"I found them outside mom, they were shivering and cold and obviously malnourished. What was I supposed to do? Leave them downstairs in a cage?" Jeff inquired helplessly as he eased down in to his chair in front of the fireplace.

His mother sighed softly and joined him, pushing her glasses up in order to better view their houseguests.

"I must say they are rather adorable little things," she murmured affectionately, reaching to scratch the golden furred kitten's ears and eliciting a purr of contentment.

"If only you'd seen them when they were awake downstairs. That silver one was spitting and scratching fit to shred my hands. Trying to protect his siblings I assume but I had to resort to knocking the poor things out so I could actually do some work on them," Jeff retold, reaching out to softly stroke the kittens as he did so.

His mother regarded him while he told his story, eyes flickering in the firelight and lips pursed in contemplation.

"You know, Jeff, you make that silver kitten sound rather like your older brother Scott the way you tell that story," She muttered a few moments later.

Jeff laughed aloud at the thought of his fiercely protective older sibling who was now currently serving in their air force.

"You know I think that's the perfect name for him, Scott Tracy".

His mother spluttered for a moment before fixing him with a hard stare.

"Tracy? You planning on making these boys part of the family?"

Jeff paused at that, hand hovering over the silky head of the orange tom.

"You know what? I think I just might". 

Scott was inexplicably drowsy.

There was a soothing pressure on his back and a rhythmic stroking along his spine that felt absolutely heavenly. He couldn't help but purr in contentment as the stroking reached his shoulders.

He was warm, and curled up on something soft and the warmth seemed to seep in to his very bones, melting him in to a puddle on fur and purring.

He finally managed to hoist his eyelids, managing to blurrily make out a familiar human hand who which was responsible for the soothing strokes.

He knew he should do something about it but the exhaustion pulling at him was too strong so he lay there and enjoyed the sensation of being petted for a little longer.

His mother had warned him, always telling him that humans would hurt him, they would take him away to terrible places and stab him with small sharp things that would make him fall asleep forever.

Well the sharp stabbing had occurred and he was obviously not dead.

Maybe this human wasn't so bad, after all he wasn't harmed and neither were his siblings if their soft breathing was any indication.

Maybe his mother had been wrong.

The thought of his mother had him letting out a soft mew of grief despite his exhaustion.

The petting paused, and then the warm, deep voice was back again.

"You finally waking up huh? By the dosage measurements you shouldn't have woken up for hours yet so I suppose you're still pretty tired aren't you, Scott?" The man murmured softly as his petting resumed.

Scott's eyes widened to full awareness as he registered the familiar name leaving the human's mouth. How had he known?

A small rumbling laugh had him gazing dopily up at a warm, weathered face that peered down at him with intelligent blue eyes.

"So you respond to your new name already? You're a fast learner, much like your namesake Scott Tracy".

Scott wriggled slightly to get the man to begin patting him again, not wishing for this warmth and comfort to end.

A few moments of silence later, he found warm hands encircling him and he was lifted from the blankets to be at eye level with the man, legs and tail dangling in to thin air.

"What are you doing?" Scott mewed anxiously as the man's face loomed closer.

A moment later he found himself cuddled to a warm sweater covered chest and ensconced in to a warm embrace, hearing the booming sound of a human's heart from where was cuddled.

"Hush Scotty, you've got a home here now little fighter, you and your brothers are Tracys now and forever more".

Scott found that he didn't mind the sound of that. He didn't mind it at all.


	13. Fly Away Home

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight the moment you've all been waiting for. The unveiling of the newest avian hybrids on the market. I present you the finest quality specimens, five brothers who will surely be the ideal buy," The auctioneer announced in a loud, excited boom.

Jeff Tracy curled his lip in disgust at the word 'specimens' of course lowly humans would refer to his kind in such a way.

Pulling his cream coat closer to himself he watched with narrowed eyes as a thin white cloth was dropped off of a gilded silver birdcage.

He held back a snarl at the sight that greeted him.

No one should be confined in a cage, put on show just for being different, and oh by the looks of the five terrified, pale faces that greeted him, they hated it just as much as he did.

They were young, the eldest only about sixteen years old, the youngest roughly six.

The moment the harsh stage lighting assaulted their senses, the five of them scrambled back as far as they could, the three eldest hybrids shielding the youngest two.

The oldest looking hybrid with dark brown hair, stunning blue eyes and the most beautiful silver wings, hissed as the auctioneer tapped the side of the cage with his cane.

"Behave!" Jeff heard the man hiss back, beady eyes igniting within at the courage of his property.

Facing the crowd with a tight smile, the short man tapped the gavel loudly, the harsh sound causing the hybrids to wince as their heightened senses took the brunt of the noise.

"So, who will start the bidding at ten thousand?" The auctioneer asked in forced tone, clearly still furious at the nerve of the eldest.

"Ten thousand!"

"Thirteen thousand!"

"Twenty thousand!"

Jeff watched with calculating eyes as the hybrids pressed together in a huddle, wings shielding one another, their expressions becoming more frightened and grim with every tap of the gavel and every increase in price. He felt a small twinge of satisfaction that they still retained their spirit, sine he could see the fire in their eyes despite their fear, the hate that this was their lot in life. He knew too many an avian to be broken.

The bids were accumulating, and waiting for the perfect time to strike he observed his competition.

There was Hiro Takyo, a Japanese medical tycoon. He knew exactly what would happen if these five brothers were to end up in that man's hands. They'd be lab experiments dissected bit by bit until Mr Takyo had extracted all his information from them.

Next to him, and talking fiercely in to her phone, was the representative of Fantasy Parlour, a chain of bars that specialized in providing customers with hybrid entertainment that often lead to much more than dancing on tabletops.

The third big player in the bidding was Admiral Corby, who often recruited hybrids in to his mindless drone of a military. Most didn't survive a year under his command.

The bidding seemed to be slowing down now, with only Fantasy Parlour and Admiral Corby still in the running.

"Ninety thousand dollars!" Admiral Corby declared loudly.

After a moment of deliberation over the phone, the representative of his competition shook her head slowly. She was disappointed and out of the running.

" Ninety thousand dollars going once, going twice-"

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars".

The bid left his mouth in a clear and crisp note, plunging the warehouse in to silence.

He strode forward, the crowd parting like the red sea before him as he strode to the front of the bidders, purposefully keeping his eyes off of the wide, pale faces watching him in anxious fear, shivering as they huddled together, afraid of his intentions, of what he would do to them if he won.

"One hundred and fifty thousand dollars going once, going twice, sold to the gentleman in the coat".

Ignoring the angry cursing of Admiral Corby behind him, Jeff strode up to receive his docket, signed by the auctioneer. Payment would be made out the back now that the night was over and the final sale made.

The silver birdcage was wheeled away giving Jeff one last glimpse of the hybrid brothers growling and snapping at the hands that pushed it, attacking any man that moved near enough to them.

A ghost of a smile touched his face at the sight and as they were wheeled out of view he made his way to the back room, checkbook in hand and relief lightening his heart.

The auctioneer met him there, small and skinny with a cruel and twisted smirk.

"Here is your payment, try not to spend it all at once," Jeff stated drily as he handed over his signed check.

The auctioneer chuckled at his humour, greed sparking in his beady eyes as he took the check in hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you good sir. You have good taste, these are the finest hybrids I've ever come across. A word of warning to you though, they're untrained and feisty creatures with a solid punch and a sharp bite. I'd be careful when handling them. When and where shall I deliver them to you?" he replied nasally, obviously pleased to be getting rid of the hybrids who acted out given any chance.

"Tonight in three hours by the northern docks," Jeff replied smoothly, shaking the offered hand tightly.

Twirling on his heel before the repulsive human could utter any other words he strode out the door, coat swirling around him as he unbuttoned it. He needed no cars, he had a boat waiting to get him to his home island and his mother and resident engineer, Brains. Getting to the docks, well, he'd make sure to be here on time.

Shifting out of his coat with practiced ease he cast an eye to make sure he was not seen as he unfurled his long, majestic white wings that arched in to the night sky. Cracking his shoulders and back in relief now that his confined appendages had been released, he took to the darkened sky, clutching his coat to his chest as he soared towards the distant docks.

"You'll be safe soon, boys, you'll be safe soon," he murmured softly, voice lost to the wind and the night.

Jeff Tracy had always kept his species a secret.

Human prejudice against those who were different was clear throughout history, and things hadn't changed with the emergence of hybrids. Dog and cat hybrids were most common, some however were more unique such as a little rabbit hybrid he passed over, who had peeked up at him from her window.

Avian hybrids, however, were rare and barely ever born.

His sibling shad been gifted like he was, and his parents were ever proud, but of course tragedy struck and his father and brothers had been killed by the military after being captured and forced in to active service.

His wife had died when doctors refused to treat her pneumonia.

Ever since he had cultivated his plan, the Thunderbirds, a team of elite avian fliers who would use high tech and flying skills to help save all those hybrids that humans refused to help.

These five boys would be his team, if only he could get them to trust him first.

Pulled out of his musings by the rumble of an engine he checked that his coat was yet again pulled tight around himself, and waved an approaching truck over to his boat, that despite its size was fancy and spacious enough to transport them all home.

Three men stepped out of the truck, two of them moving to open the trailer whilst the third moved to address him personally.

"Sir, we've got the cargo in the back of the trailer, where do you want them placed?" He asked briskly, obviously wishing to be out of the chilly night air.

Jeff gestured to his boat and the man nodded, racing around to help his coworkers unload the boys.

Jeff blanched at the sight of the five unconscious hybrids in the smaller, battered cage, lying sprawled uncomfortably on the cold metal mesh, wings cramped and twisted to accommodate five bodies in a small cage meant for two.

He waited whilst they were loaded on to the boat and until the leader approached him again, seething with anger that his own kind were given this injustice.

"They're loaded on now. They've been heavily sedated so they'll stay nice and quiet on your trip home, didn't even know what hit 'em till they were down. There's a little extra dose attached to the cage just in case for some reason one of them does twitch. Enjoy them, sir".

Jeff didn't wait for the men to drive away, he merely hopped on to his boat and pulled away from the docks, typing in the coordinates for his home island and letting the boat glide on its own as he walked back to the cabin where the boys had been dumped.

There they were, the overhead lighting illuminating the sorry state they were in.

Jeff growled lowly in his throat as he unlatched the cage, crouching down and slipping his hands under the eldest's arms and gently sliding him out on to the softer carpet of the cabin, careful not to drag his wings across the mesh as he did so.

Hitching the boys off the ground he made short work of laying him on to the soft, squishy couch watching with a soft smile as the boys face smoothed out and he seemed to settle peacefully where he lay.

He pulled the other boys out as well, laying them carefully around the room and being extra careful with the youngest whose scarlet red feathers were extra delicate at that age.

The cage was unceremoniously thrown overboard and Jeff took pleasure in watching it sink to the depths.

Now for his least favorite part of rescuing hybrids.

Mandatory by law, every hybrid born in to traditional hospitals was immediately chipped so that the governments across the world could always track their movements. Tracy island was a secret and his family had raised generations of hybrids there to avoid segregation and the painful chipping of their children.

Before these boys could set foot anywhere near the island they had to be de-chipped and searched for any bugs that may have been planted on them.

Opening his silver hand case he pulled out the necessary tools for the job and moved to sit beside the eldest hybrid.

Turning the boy's head so it faced away from him, Jeff wiped antiseptic gel over the back of the hybrids neck before slowly making an incision at the base of his neck where it met with his spine.

Muscles gave way beneath his scalpel as he dug down till he reached bone that glistened white and shiny beneath the fluorescent lighting.

Pushing his tweezers in to the wound he quickly took hold of the chip and tugged swiftly.

The chip came with him, caught in the tweezers and slippery with blood as he dropped it in to the emesis tray. A neat row of stitches finished the job and he taped a bandage over the area, intent to avoid infection at all costs.

Jeff stood and repeated the process for the rest of the boys, only having difficulty with the red haired boy who had partially woken when Jeff had pulled out the microchip, moaning in pain as his aqua blue gaze twitched around the room frantically.

"Ssshh, it's alright, just getting your chip out," Jeff murmured softly, stroking the boy's hair until he closed his eyes and settled again.

Breathing a sigh of relief he'd closed the wound and sent the chips to the same watery grave as the cage.

Satisfied that they could no longer be tracked, he opened the radio channel and waiting for a response.

" You got the boys?"

He let out a small snort of amusement at his mother's direct nature.

"Yes mother, they're right here with me all sleeping off the drugs. We'll set them up in the quarantine room when I get there in twenty minutes," Jeff replied warmly.

His mother yelled something at someone in the background before directing her attention back to the radio.

" I'll have Brains prepare the beds," his mother replied gruffly before ending the call and leaving Jeff to make his way to the front cabin. He'd steer them in to the bay and finally get his boys to their new home.

Virgil Tracy woke up to the insistent nagging of his younger brother.

"Virgil! Wake up already!" Gordon hissed in his ear.

Virgil groaned in annoyance, his foggy mind barely registering the fact that his brother was speaking.

"VIRGIL!" Alan's shrill little voice squeaked.

Virgil sat up quickly, pinning the two boys crouched on his bed with a poisonous green stare.

"WHAT?" He growled, left wing twitching in annoyance.

The moment he opened his eyes he noticed that things were undeniably different. He was on a soft bed in what appeared to be a glass cube, Scott and John lying motionless across the room on their own beds, wings splayed out to the side as they slept.

Everything was either white, metal or transparent, and he found that he'd been dressed in what appeared to be a red checkered shirt and pants while he slept.

His jade green wings puffed out as he took in the strange surroundings, his breath catching in his throat as he suddenly remembered what had happened the night before.

The man in the coat had bought them. They'd been holding each other close through the auction, and blinded by rage and terror they'd been snapping out at anything that assaulted their senses or got too close.

They'd been bought and wheeled back to the side room where they'd been locked in as a cloudy white gas filled the room and they'd held each other closer as unconsciousness had beckoned.

Now they were here, obviously at the man's residence where he could do as he pleased with them. Seeing the obvious hospital grade gear surrounding them he figured the man would do to them what he did to their parents. Medical Research they called it. More like sick dissection.

Gordon and Alan watched him take in their surroundings with wide eyes, a small whimper building in Alan's throat as the six year old feared for his new life.

Virgil immediately drew his wings around them, holding them tight to reassure their fears.

" It's going to be okay guys, we'll fight just like we always do. You think you champs can stay nice and warm under my blanket here while I go get your brothers out of bed?"

Teary nods answered him and he stood stiffly, his wings flaring to keep his balance as pain assaulted the back of his head and neck.

Grimacing slightly he regained his wits and strode over to Scott.

"Scotty, wake up," He murmured, shaking his brother's shoulder slightly.

Scott twitched before opening his eyes, slowly sitting up to assess the situation with narrowed eyes.

Virgil waited patiently for him to do so before his older brother fixed his bright blue eyes back on his face.

"What's up with John?" He asked hesitantly, gesturing to the slumbering red head beside him.

"Drugged. We all were don't you remember? Seems John is having a hard time coming out of it," Virgil muttered deeply, bitter at having being drugged and shipped off like some lowly pet.

Scott slipped out of bed flinching at the stabbing pain that assaulted the base of his neck before shaking it off and approaching John and taking hold of his shoulder.

"Johnny," Scott called lowly as he shook his brother to no avail.

Balling his hand in to a fist Scott pressed against John's sternum causing his younger brother to shift restlessly a small squeak leaving his throat.

"I know you don't like it Johnny but you gotta wake up," Scott comforted as he pressed harder.

John's brow twitched and soon the twelve year old was gazing up at Scott with foggy gaze and a deep pout.

The sound of knocking against the glass had them all snapping to attention, Scott taking in the man standing outside the glass walls in a split second and immediately speeding through the air to throw himself at the glass with a snarl.

The human backed away startled and stopped a meter away from the glass as Virgil joined Scott and the two of them crouched threateningly, wings raised to shield the others from view.

The man tapped a button at his side and spoke in to a microphone on the wall, his voice syphoning through in to their glass cube.

"Stand down, I am no threat to you".

Scott growled again, feathers fluffing to show his anger.

"Where are we and who are you?"

The man paused at that, sharp eyes glimmering in the light as he tapped the microphone.

"My name is Jeff Tracy, this is my home one Tract island and you are currently in quarantine for the next half an hour until I am sure you haven't any viruses or transmission devices planted on you after you were drugged two nights ago," the man explained evenly, never taking his eyes off of them for a moment.

"W-What do you plan to do to us?" Squeaked Alan, bright blue eyes as wide as saucers as he gazed past his brother's wing shield in to the warm face of the man outside.

His mouth softened slightly in to a smile.

"I'm putting together a team of avians to help rescue hybrids in need. I want you boys to be that team," he replied truthfully.

Scott eyed him warily, sifting his wings in to a more comfortable position since the man was not inclined to attack.

"Why should I trust your motives in this venture?" he asked as he moved closer to Virgil.

Jeff paused for a moment, a smirk tugging at his slightly scarred lips.

"You could say I have hybrid interests at heart. Especially yours," he answered with a small chuckle as humongous snowy white wings extended from a tucked positing along his spine.

Clearly taken aback the boys watched in silence for a moment as lengthy primary and flight feathers ruffled out in to place, a snowy sheen to them beneath the lighting.

"And say we were to join this…team of yours…what would it be called?" Virgil asked testily, not quite trusting the man who had suddenly changed characters so quickly.

Jeff cast him an approving glance, sweeping it over the younger ones before replying.

"I call it the thunderbirds".

 _ **Hey everyone. So numerous people voted for a winged AU and there you have it. Send in any more prompts you have and I'll attempt to make them work. Also, if anyone wants continuation of either the kitten AU of last chapter or this one just comment below and I can make that happen too.**_


	14. Fly Away Free

**So apparently there's a fascination with Virgil Tracy amongst my reviewers, I assume he's a favourite character of some people reading this work? My favourite has always been good old John, he just writes so perfectly! Anyways, you asked for two prompts so here they are. A continuation of the last fic where I introduced a winged AU, and also some Virgil whump and TLC. I hope you are satisfied!**

They boys were settling in nicely.

After they had been let out of quarantine, clear of sickness, bugs and listening devices he had let them wander the mansion as he took Scott and Virgil aside for a chat.

The boys weren't far apart in age, and both, while accepting of his offer of shelter and a place on his team, were not so accepting of him as a person yet.

They'd taken a seat on the couches in the living room, tucking their wings in as they did so, with Scott and Virgil crowding one couch and Jeff taking a seat opposite them, keen eyes watching their nervous twitches.

"I wanted to talk to you boys first, so you have a chance to ask me any questions," Jeff offered when silence reigned in the room.

Scott took the lead, the fire in his eyes reminding Jeff of his own teenage years.

"I know that you're…like us…but why exactly did you buy us? Surely there are better candidates for your team," Scott asked tensely, looping an arm around Virgil as he did so, the younger teen not seeming to mind at all.

"You're wrong about that, Scott. I was staking out black market sales for weeks on end and until two days ago I never found any worthy candidates for my team. The moment you boys chose to be resilient in the face of disaster and fought back despite your limitations I knew you were exactly who I needed," Jeff replied smoothly, watching them for any hints of nervousness and anger.

Virgil let out a soft growl at his statement.

"So this is all simply business. You care nothing about us, you just want our skills, our wings? You don't care about the humans attached!" He growled passionately, jade wings fluffing up in anger.

Jeff held out a hand to stall any agreement from Scott.

"I know it's hard for you to understand just now Virgil, but I really do wish to be a part of your lives, to nurture you and teach you. I want to get to know each and every one of you, and I plan to prove to you that I really mean that," Jeff murmured, his eyes softening as he spoke.

Scott's ears perked up and he lent forward with an intrigued glance.

"How?" he asked quickly.

Jeff spread his hands and his wings, rising from his seat with grace and poise.

"By letting you fly".

The air was cool today.

The breeze blew softly through his midnight hair as he stepped outside, the excited chatter of his brothers filling his keen ears. His obsidian feathers ruffled at the wind, his wings moving to stabilize him as he stepped to the edge of what Jeff Tracy had referred to as the 'flight deck'.

He hadn't flown in years. At least not properly. He'd fluttered about the cage and hovered above the cold floor to teach Alan and Gordon whilst Scott helped John to flutter higher. But true flight? He hadn't experienced that in so long he almost felt as though he'd forget!

Jeff stepped up beside him, immense white wings lifting to test the wind currents.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Jeff asked with a raised brow.

A excited cry issuing from his lips, Virgil leapt in to the air, powerful strokes of his emerald wings helping him gain both altitude and speed quickly.

Soon the figures on the flight deck below were small and insignificant, the wind rushing through his locks, currents tempting his long caged wings to be daring.

And so he was.

Swooping and diving at incredible speeds to touch the ocean with a happy laugh, playing chicken with Scott as his faster older brother flew right at him, and dive bombing Gordon from above so he took an impromptu swim.

It took him longer than anticipated to realize that Jeff was circling above them, white wings barely moving as he drifted on an air current, watching their every move with a calculative eye.

Shrugging at how strange the adult was being, Virgil went back to an all out war of tag with his beloved brothers. Oh how good it was to be free!

Virgil was disappointed when it was time to head back inside, the sun dipping low and sore muscles reminding him that he'd been cooped up for a long time and all this sudden flight was wreaking havoc on his starved body. He pulled his wings out to their full length to slow his landing as he fluttered closer to the flight deck, watching as Scott and John who had been before him safely tucked in their plumage and dropped gracefully to the ground.

He began to slowly retract his wings as the ground neared and extended his feet to touch the hard ground.

A panicked screech was all the warning he got.

Alan came tumbling towards him, never having been taught to land properly, his crimson wings flapping wildly about him. He crashed full on right on top of Virgil, sending them both crashing to a halt against the hard ground, Virgil thankfully having broken Alan's fall.

Virgil couldn't form a coherent thought outside of _pain._

It rushed through his bones like wildfire, sending his nerves sizzling and causing him to stifle a scream in his throat. Oh god he was back there, back in the world of slavery and pain, so much pain, with electrified cages, cattle prods and whips and belts that scorched and flayed his skin. He was back with captors who attempted to sell him to men with lusty eyes and women with cruel sneers and even crueler intentions. They had hurt him, he was hurt.

His wings hurt! They hurt bad, and whenever the bad men had hurt him he had always relied on Scotty.

"S-Scotty!" He cried out, not daring to open his eyes from his dream world of a man with white wings and a proper home.

Hands on him, touching him, twisting his body to face a scorching sun.

"I'm here Virge, you're okay," Scott murmured softly in his ear.

How nice of him to lie. He had always begged Scott to lie to him when he was hurt, _'Lie to me! Tell me we're fine, that we're gonna be okay because I can't take anymore truth right now!'_ he had always begged _._

"Scotty, they hurt me bad this time, i-it hurts real bad," Virgil sobbed softly, holding his eyes closed in the vain hope of maintaining a dream of love and hope for a possible future.

Scott gasped softly before his voice was back, lying to him just the way he always wanted.

"Virgil it's okay, we're free remember? Jeff got us out and brought us here, we flew, Virge! We flew! You got hurt because Alan crashed in to you! Now just lie still and let us look for injuries okay," Scott replied calmly.

Virgil huffed a painful laugh. _Free_ …

Large, warm hands were touching his shoulders, running down to where his wings connected to his human skin, prodding and pushing against him before they hesitantly ran along the primary wing bone.

Immediately he screamed in blinding pain, writhing against hands that tried to hold him as waves of pain seemed to wash over him before they finally settled back down to the dull ache of before.

"It's his joint, he's dislocated the Radius bone form the Ulna in both wings, probably because he was mid retraction when they were hit, we need to get him inside now," A deep voice muttered above him, _Jeff_ _Tracy_ his mind supplied.

Hands were again on him, a hand under his wings and another under his knees pulling him upwards and off the hard ground which was his only constant in this swirling world of pain.

The explosion of pain the lifting caused had him letting out a choked breath, whimpering in the back of his throat as he was clutched tighter against a warm chest.

The sound of sobbing reached his ears but he felt no tears, who was crying?

By the time his sluggish mind had pondered that thought he was being placed on something soft, his head cushioned by a pillow cloud that he practically melted in to, his wings facing the sky and laying limp across his body, warming him deliciously.

It felt so nice. Of course that meant it had to end.

Hands on him again, pressing weight on his arms and legs.

"Stop.." He moaned listlessly, wanting to melt in to the pillows and forget the world of pain.

"Sorry Virge, just a moment longer".

Scott…What did he mean a moment longer? A moment for what? Pain.

Hands on his wings, cold now instead of warm and comforting, voices talking in hushed tones above him, hands gripping tight to his left wing causing him to cry out softly _, it hurts, stop it_!

A pulling sensation followed by a loud SNAP followed by pain worse than any before, clawing a scream from his desert of a throat and strength to his limbs as he pulled and twisted, attempting to gain better purchase.

His captors had never been this rough before.

Hands were on his right wing this time and he pulled and twisted in renewed fervor, he wouldn't go through that pain again, not again.

"S-stop it, please stop it hurts! I'll do anything!"

No replies, the hands were gripping tighter on his wing and he knew this dance, knew what came next.

"P-please noooo," He sobbed harshly, knowing it was pathetic but he was a child in pain and no one was listening to his cries.

His please were unwarranted as a second pull SNAP pain followed the first and he screamed louder, screeching until it died down and he was panting, gasping for any air that dared enter his lungs.

Hands were back, weight lifting from his limbs as warm, familiar hands cupped and turned his cheek.

"Hush now Virge, it's okay now, it's over there's no more," Scott's voice assured.

Virgil clung to the war hands, tears streaming down his face as he softly sobbed.

"No more…"

"Yeah tough guy, no more".

Something cold briefly touched his free upper arm as he clutched at Scott desperately, surprising him enough that he didn't feel the sudden pinching pain that followed until it was gone. Once he did register it his sobs renewed, hands clawing at Scott is pure terror, he knew that feeling.

"You said no more! Don't torture me anymore, please, I can't take it…"

His words drifted off as his mind drifted, sudden thoughts never making it past that sudden barrier of murky conscience. His muscles relaxed and his grip on Scott slackened no matter how hard he tried to clutch him harder.

"S-Scotty whas goin on?" Virgil slurred, his jaw moving sluggishly to form words.

A hand ran through his hair, soothing away the tenseness in his jelly-like muscles.

"Ssh Virgil, it's okay just go to sleep," Scott urged close to his ear, soothing voice relaxing him further.

He didn't want to go to sleep, but he couldn't help it, he was suddenly just so tired…

Jeff watched on in silence as Virgil drifted off, courtesy of the sedative that had been pumped through his veins. He needed the rest after having both wings dislocated.

Jeff knew from personal experience just how much that hurt.

Scott had been a good help, immediately comforting Virgil after the accident, being firm when required and then seamlessly falling back in to the role of comforter again.

He was definitely leader potential.

If his current possessive nature was any indication he would not be leaving Virgil's side until he woken again.

He did spare a though to the loudly sobbing Alan who he could faintly hear three floors above with his advanced hearing. Little Alan had been horrified when he'd picked himself up off the ground and saw the mishappen shape of his brother's wings, and John and Gordon had silently moved to comfort him knowing that Jeff and Scott would be busy.

His mother was probably up there with them, a plate of horrible cookies in hand. He shuddered at the thought of her baking, _those poor boys_.

"Will he be okay Mr Tracy?" Scott asked suddenly, breaking the silence between them.

"Yes, I daresay he will be, though I think your littlest brother is in quite a sorry state too," Jeff replied coolly.

Scott perked up, bluebell eyes wide with anguish.

"Alan! Oh he's probably so upset right now, he only calms down for John or I but in this case he's probably still crying his eyes out. I can't leave Virgil though…" Scott said quickly, casting torn glance at his peaceful sibling.

"I'll watch over him, you tend to your brother, he'll be right here when you all get back".

When the ends of Scott's silver plumage disappeared up the stairs Jeff sidled over to sit on the edge of the medical bed, ruffling Virgil's hair affectionately.

"Seems I'm not so bad after all. You'll see Virgil, this is far more than business, my dear son.." 

_**Okay! So there you go Virgil whump fans, hope it was up to your standards. Now votes are back up for new fics. Send me in your requests, continuations, new ideas, I'm open.**_


	15. My Brother's Keeper

How long had it been now?

3 minutes? 30? 3 hours?

Time didn't register all to well in John's mind as he sat in the dentist's waiting area, eyes flashing to all the other people in the room. He fought to contain a slight shiver at just how busy it was, the amount of people sitting oh so close to him.

The GDF medical centre had a dentist's wing that was filled with highly trained medical professionals, and yet that didn't stop him from worrying about his brothers.

Both Scott and Virgil, by mere coincidence had both began feeling pain in their mouths for the past week, that or more likely Scott had been feeling it for longer and hadn't said anything to worry his brothers. It was discovered that both were in need of their wisdom teeth being removed and they'd been booked in to surgery on the same date, leaving John the designated pilot and mother hen.

He sat stiff in his chair, having had no time to change out of his uniform and feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the stares he was getting.

He hated social situations, he hated having large groups of people other than his family around him ever since he was little. His older brothers were the only ones who ever understood but they were currently unconscious and would probably be loopy when they did wake up.

Whenever Virgil was injured and was in need of painkillers he became the world's clingiest patient upon waking up. He would immediately latch on to anyone he could and refuse to let them go.

Scott had a penchant for hallucinations, and could NOT STAY STILL! He was always getting up before he was supposed to, hallucinating that he was needed on a rescue. One time he'd even taken the space elevator to Thunderbird 5 by accident and had scared John out of his wits.

Having both to deal with at once would be almost impossible, so they called in John to deal with them.

"Mr Tracy? Your brothers are in recovery, you can come and see them now," A nurse called, gesturing for him to follow her out back.

Swallowing nervously as all eyes turned to him, John stood shakily, breaths panting slightly faster than usual as he crossed the room and felt their stares boring in to his back. Breathing a sigh of relief as he moved out of sight, John followed the nurse to a room at the back which she opened for him.

"Thanks ma'am," He murmured gratefully.

She smiled shyly at him before holding out a sheet of paper for him.

"This details the post-op care your brothers will need upon your arrival home, make sure you monitor them closely. Once they wake up you can take them home, just call us and we'll help you get them to your aircraft," She prattled brightly, tucking her hair behind her ears as she did so.

John thanked her politely before heading inside, immediately smiling softly at the sight of Virgil and Scott sleeping away peacefully in their cots.

It was rare that his brothers got good rest, what with Scott being the mother hen of the family, always busy and always stressed out and Virgil being the medic and primary call for missions and transport. It was good to see them resting, though he doubted it'd be this peaceful once they awoke.

A small groan had him making his way to lean over Scott as his oldest brother blinked open his sky blue eyes.

"Johnny?" He groaned quietly, voice slurred slightly as he attempted to make his jaw work.

"Yeah Scott, it's me. How are you feeling?"

"Sort of…. Fuzzy, it feels nice, " Scott mumbled, eyes scanning the room listlessly.

John huffed out a laugh, squeezing his older brother's warm hand tightly.

"Yeah I bet you feel fuzzy, how about you just lay there a second while I get Virgil up," John replied soothingly.

Scott nodded his head jerkily before frowning at the pain it caused.

John crossed over to Virgil's bed, taking a hold of his hand gently.

"Virge? Can you wake up for me?"

Virgil's fingers twitched at the sound of his voice and his eyes opened slightly to reveal hazy brown orbs that stared confusedly up at his younger brother. When clarity finally flooded his gaze he was immediately sitting up in bed, well muscled arms pulling John in to a tight bear-hug that pushed all the air out of John's lungs.

"Virge! L-let me go!" John managed once his breath returned, eyes blown wide with fright.

Virgil obliged, and settled for hugging John's left arm instead of his entire body. Watching from the other bed, Scott cackled in overjoyed laughter.

"Stop laughing Scott this isn't funny!" John growled as he attempted to pull away from Virgil with little success.

Seeing he was getting nowhere, he settled for pulling Scott out of bed with his other hand.

"Come on you two, we're headed home so you can sleep. The sooner you're better the sooner I can get back to space". 

The ride home was eventful…

With Virgil refusing to let go of John's arm, he ended up having to pilot Thunderbird One with only one hand, which was a feat in itself. Scott had settled in the chair next to them and he didn't seem to be bothered as long as they didn't leave his sight. John did doubt that Scott was really seeing them though, since he periodically reached up to bat away at air for no apparent reason and his gaze seemed to roam listlessly.

He knew logically that Virgil and Scott were only acting this way because they were doped up to the gills on painkillers, but it didn't stop him from breathing a little shallower and fidgeting where he sat.

He hated touch even more than social situations.

If he initiated a hug with a sibling or parent or offered a touch himself he didn't find it so bad, but when people touched him unexpectedly and without his consent he was immediately on guard and panic seemed to spring up in his mind. While Virgil was just being Virgil and meant nothing by his hugs, John couldn't shake the panicked feeling that seemed to grip him.

After a rather shaky landing John breathed a sigh of relief as Gordon entered the aircraft to help him get his brothers out. Surveying the situation he chuckled loudly, brown eyes so much like Virgil's sparkling with amusement.

"I wondered whether it'd be you or Scott he'd cling to," Gordon chuckled.

John gestured with his free hand to the completely spaced out Scott who was yet again trying to grab something that didn't clearly exist.

"Yeah well Scott's totally out of it and hallucinating weird stuff and Virgil has decided to squeeze the life out of my arm so could you please help me with them," John pleaded desperately.

The need to be rid of Virgil's touch was suffocating and his skin was covered in a light sheen of sweat.

"Sheesh, calm down big bro, I've got Mr. Mother hen, you help your carry on". 

Gordon had never understood John Tracy.

Sure they were brothers and all but John was always so…detached compared to his other siblings.

Alan was his pranking buddy and the two of them had great fun when they were younger, going on missions together they worked effortlessly with one another, attuned to each others movements. Alan was fun.

Virgil was his idol, no offense to Scott or anything but Virgil was built like tank with the rugged good looks of a lumberjack turned supermodel. Virgil was talented, smart, wise and always ready with a hug for his younger brothers, together he and Scott were the dream team when it came to raising their younger siblings after Jeff's death.

Scott was amazing, just pure amazing. He was always so caring and loving and was the best big brother he could ever wish for, and he always made time for his siblings.

John did not do that. He was reclusive and solitary, preferring to be away from everyone. He barely ever laughed, he was serious and ridiculously smart, and while his cooking as great he didn't seem to take joy in anything! He never went out with him unless he had too and when invited to things he barely ever came.

When they were kids Gordon would always try and play with John, after all, he was his immediate older brother and he had thought all big brothers would make time for him like Virgil and Scott did. John did not.

John would always cry out and stumble away from him when he hugged him from behind, and would never agree to play, preferring to read his books instead. To be honest, Gordon had never really connected with his older sibling, certainly not like Alan had. It seemed the bottom of the ocean and the depths of space were just too different from one another.

Watching him now as John struggled to get Virgil to let go of him and go to sleep like Scott had, Gordon found himself frowning at the lack of emotion in John's voice.

He was clearly having no success with Virgil and Gordon knew there was only one solution.

"Look Johnny, you know Virgil's not going to let you go so why don't you just lie down with him, then he'll fall asleep," Gordon suggested.

Was it a trick of light or did John's skin just pale.

"N-no, just give me a second and I'll get him off," John replied calmly.

He pulled, causing Virgil to squeeze tighter on his appendage.

"John there's no way he's letting you go and you know it. Why bother trying, honestly?"

John took a breath before speaking, tugging in a last ditch attempt at freedom.

"I just c-can't have him h-holding on to me okay," John replied shortly, eyes darting around the room.

Gordon sighed in annoyance and tromped over to them, putting a hand on John's shoulder to steady them before putting another on Virgil's arms to try and help push him off. It took a few moments to realize that John wasn't helping and was standing completely still.

"John?"

"Gordon…p-p-please let me go," John asked after gulping a few times.

Gordon huffed in annoyance, tightening his grip to try again.

"I'm just trying to help you bro, just hold on," Gordon growled.

Silence stretched for another minute before John spoke again.

"Gordon, let go".

Anger welled in his veins before he was gripping John painfully tight, meeting his elder sibling's gaze with ferocious eyes.

"WHY? What is your problem John? I'm just trying to help! What is it with you?" Gordon growled angrily.

John pulled back slightly, eyes widening further and breath coming out in short pants.

"Gordon just let me go".

"Ugh! You know what I've had enough trying to help you out! I've never even understood your weird thing with touching anyway! What are you afraid of this? Or this? Maybe this!" Gordon said in annoyance, accentuating his point by poking John in different places, ignorant of the colour draining from John's pallid skin and the ever quickening breaths.

"P-p-please j-just l-let m-me go," John stuttered out breathlessly.

Gordon wrenched his hands away, pulling Virgil's grip as he did so, allowing John's arm to fall free.

"Fine, just go, I'll take care of our older brothers instead!"

Angry tears flooding his eyes Gordon turned to arrange the blankets around Virgil as John sprinted form the room, his footsteps thudding up the stairs. John hadn't cared that all Virgil wanted was the comforting touch of a brother or that Gordon was frustrated and angry, he hadn't tried to talk it out like Scott or give advice like Virgil, he'd just run away. 

Scott hadn't remembered much of the past few days.

He sort of remembered a nurse bending over him with an oxygen mask but past that everything was jumbled and messed up. He remembered hearing John's warm voice and seeing strange birds flying around in his Thunderbird, and oh how he'd attempted to chase them out and failed.

Blinking tiredly as he sat himself up, grimacing at the dull pain in his mouth it all flooded back to him.

Severe mouth pain. Check ups. Wisdom teeth removal. Great.

With a small groan he picked the bloodied gauze from his mouth and replaced it with clean gauze from the bedside table before throwing off his navy bedcovers. He'd go and check on John, goodness knows his younger sibling was probably run ragged caring for both Virgil and his own care on top of checking on the younger boys.

Shuffling down the hallway, raking a hand through his messy hair as he did so he peeked in to Virgil's open door, taking a double take when he saw Gordon sitting beside Virgil's sleeping form instead of the expected John.

"Gordon? What are you doing?" Scott asked curiously, voice muffled by the gauze in his mouth.

Gordon grinned delightedly as Scott entered.

"Thank goodness you're you again! You kept mumbling about sparrows inside Thunderbird One and I was getting worried there for a while. Virgil's still kind of out of it so I'm staying with him".

Scott grimaced at the thought of his drugged up ramblings before shaking his head to rid himself of those thoughts.

"Thanks for that Gordon, I totally appreciate it but I'm kind of confused, where's John? I thought he was coming down to help out," Scott murmured confusedly.

Gordon's expression darkened at the mention of his immediate elder sibling causing Scott to frown slightly.

"Yeah John's here, he is in his room though, some help he's been this entire time," Gordon muttered bitterly.

Scott crossed over to sit opposite Gordon on the bed, worried blue eyes meeting his younger brother's sour face.

"What happened, Gordo?"

" You know how Virgil gets super cuddly when he's high on pain meds? Well he latched on to John and wouldn't let go and when we finally finished getting you in bed and were trying to get Virgil to settle down he still wouldn't let go. Anyway John wanted him off so I went to help and the moment I touched him John just got all upset and then I got angry because he wasn't helping me and was getting annoyed ta me when I was just trying to help out. I snapped and he ran off to his room, hasn't come out since," Gordon explained with a small shrug.

Scott's face gradually paled as the story lengthened and by the end he felt his breath catch in his lungs worriedly and his concern for his younger brother spiked alarmingly.

He did however have to deal with another brother first.

"Gordon, do you know why John doesn't like to be touched, why he reacted that way?" Scott asked gently.

Gordon's expression grew contemplative before he shrugged slowly.

"Not really, no one would ever explain it to me. Why? Cause it kind of seems like a stupid thing to worry about," he replied casually.

Scott's eyes darkened angrily before he shifted closer to Gordon.

"Look Gordon, John's fear of touch and social situations is not stupid! You know how when he gets upset he starts stuttering like Brains?" Scott asked tensely.

Gordon nodded slowly, remembering how during their fight John had been stuttering like crazy.

"Well when he was born John had a speech impediment. His reading and writing was just fine and he was a certifiable genius but he couldn't say what he was thinking without stuttering. Dad was a billionaire Gordon, and before you were born we went to balls and charity fundraisers on the mainland all the time, John started hating social situations because everyone kept teasing him or looking at him funny because he couldn't speak properly," Scott explained slowly.

Gordon's brown eyes widened in shock before confusion flooded them.

"I never knew that Scotty...Honestly I didn't! How come he speaks to well now?"

Scott sighed, gaze far off with memory.

"Dad made him go to therapy all the time, John hated it with a passion but his speaking improved greatly till it's just fine today, he only really stutters again when he gets nervous or upset and even then he usually hides it pretty well. He still developed a fear of social gatherings though, he still feels like everyone's looking at him, judging him again".

Gordon was quiet for a long while, eyes downcast before he finally looked up at Scott with wondering eyes.

"That's terrible. I'm sorry that he had to go through that, that he still does go through that. I get it now, but that still doesn't explain why he's afraid of touch!"

Scott's expression darkened at that and he pursed his lips.

"Look, dad was a great guy and the best father any of us could have ever had but he once made a mistake, one he never ever repeated. Grandpa had just died and Grandma was living with us, she was so upset all the time and for a while everyone thought she'd follow her husband to the grave. Dad took it tough, he had always loved his father and it crushed him when he died, even more so that his mum was so depressed. He was angry," Scott paused at this, clearly taking a moment to soothe his aching mouth and collect his thoughts.

"John was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Dad had just lost his father, his mother was depressed and that day he learned that one of his best friends from the air force had been killed in an accident. He came home furious and John figured he'd make him a cup of coffee to cheer him up, the kid didn't expect the cup to be so heavy though and he dropped it, shattering the cup and sending shards in to the air, one of which shattered Grandpa's only good picture, the last picture dad had of him. Dad was so mad he didn't think and he slapped John. Poor kid lost his balance and fell backwards, ended up falling down the stairs".

Silence stretched in the room, Scott's eyes going misty as he remembered running from his room at John's scream and finding his little brother sobbing and terrified at the bottom of the stairs.

"Dad felt so terrible, especially after John explained through his tears that he was just trying to cheer him up. Kid never really liked touch after that, every time someone touches him without permission or by surprise he gets all tense and has a mild panic attack, sometimes he remembers that night and freaks out. Whenever he tells you to let go, let go, Gordon".

Gordon had listened with wide eyes to the tale, clearly able to picture the scene as Scott spoke. When his older brother finished, Gordon suddenly understood just why John was shying away from people and wanting to be on his own, because on his own he was safe and no one could judge him.

"I've gotta go Scotty! Can you look after Virgil for a moment? I've got an apology to make!"

Watching his younger brother dash off Scott smiled to himself with a small laugh, startled slightly to find himself joined by Virgil who unbeknownst to his brothers had been listening the whole time.

"I hate when you have to tell that story," Virgil murmured groggily.

"So do I Virge, but now he at least understands, besides John's probably calmed down about it already. I'll check on him after Gordon's finished apologizing".

Virgil chuckled softly as he remembered Gordon's frantic scampering from the room.

"Now another person will be helping us keep John safe. You ready to train a new recruit in the arts of looking out for John Tracy?" Virgil managed tiredly.

"Always little brother, always". 

_**Ugh was that a marathon! So that little fic was for all those who voted on a wisdom teeth story (yes I know I didn't focus on it too much but I whump the boys all the time and I've read so many wisdom teeth/loopy brother stories that I thought I'd change it up a smidge). The characters are a little OOC but this is fanfiction, I'm getting creative. Anyways, votes are up for any fics you want me to write next, continuations and new ideas excepted!**_


	16. Learning Curve

Scott was always more of a mother than a big brother.

He fussed over his younger siblings like they were his children, he made sure they were always fed and were getting enough sleep, and when any of them got injured, sick, or were in need to some TLC Scott was the brother to go too for comfort. It was as though his heart was a fountain overflowing with a need and desire to protect and care for his seemingly fragile siblings.

Alan, who had come down with a nasty case of the flu after a mission in the pelting rain, was currently experiencing what Virgil had dubbed 'Scott's freak-outs'.

"Do you need another blanket? A pillow? A hot water bottle? You look cold, are you cold?" Scott fretted, tucking the covers up around Alan's shoulders as the youngest Tracy watched with half lidded eyes.

"Scotty I'm fine, I just need to take it easy for a few days until I get over the flu. Just calm down a moment, okay," Aland replied stuffily, taking a moment afterwards to cover a sneeze.

Scott sighed softly before taking a seat on the edge of the bed with a small smile gracing his anxious features.

"You're right kiddo, I'm sorry but you know how I am. I worry about all my little brothers, especially you Allie," Scott murmured, reaching out to press a palm to Alan's fever warm brow, muttering softly at the heat he found there.

"Can you keep me company then? Maybe that'll put both our minds at ease," Alan suggested lightly, wriggling over softly to make more room for his sibling.

Kicking off his shoes, Scott lay back on the bed, pulling an arm around Alan's shoulders to drag his brother closer.

Alan curled in to his older brother's warm side, a small sigh of relief escaping his lips as Scott's warmth soaked in to his cold bones.

"You're good at this big brother thing you know, you always have been," Alan murmured warmly, blinking up at the caring blue eyes that gazed back at him fondly.

Scott uttered a dry laugh, "I wasn't always you know, I had to learn a lot about being a big brother before I got to this stage".

Brow creasing in confusion, Alan glanced up at his sibling with clearly curious eyes.

"Really?"

"Really".

When Virgil was first brought home from the hospital Scott was not impressed.

His parents had left him to suffer under his grandmother's care and cooking only to bring home that…creature.

He didn't understand why people said the creature was cute.

It cooed up at him with a drool covered mouth devoid of teeth and it stared at him funny, pudgy pink fists waving around like crazy.

"Stop looking at me!" two-year-old Scott squeaked in annoyance.

The baby did not stop staring at him with those big brown eyes.

Huffing in annoyance, Scott turned away from it and chose instead to continue colouring his picture. His mother and father would be home soon and he was determined to impress them with the pictures he'd drawn just for them! He had worked for hours on them and he thought they looked rather good.

A loud tinkling laugh reached his ears and immediately he was leaping to his feet as his mother and father entered the room, sweeping over to the crib in the corner with excited faces.

"Hello my sweet little Virgil! Did you miss mummy?"

"Hey there champ, how's my little man?"

Scott squared his stance determinedly, marching over to where his parents stood with his pictures held in his fists. His parents didn't seem to notice him, their attention captured in the cute little noises Virgil was making as Jeff made funny faces to him.

"Mum! Daddy! Look what I drew for you!" Scott chirped happily, holding his pictures out in front of him.

His father glanced slightly over his shoulder before returning his gaze to the baby.

"That's nice dear, oh Virgil you are so smart my beautiful boy!" Lucille chirped.

Scott's stomach seemed to drop within him and he kicked the floor halfheartedly before trailing out of the room.

Once upon a time HE had been his mother's beautiful boy, and his mother hadn't even looked at his hard work. His father had at least attempted a glance. Neither had even said hello or had given him his hug.

He perked up at the sight of his grandma who was bustling out of the kitchen with a warm bottle of milk in hand.

"Nana! Look what I drew!" Scott cried happily, holding out the hand drawn images towards her.

"Not now Scott, I've got to get this milk to Virgil before it goes cold".

Scott stood alone in the centre of the room, tears building in his eyes as he watched his grandma walk away without a care. Anger bubbled beneath his skin and he glared down at his beloved drawings. With a loud RIP the paper tore in his grip as he ripped the pictures to shreds, tears wetting the paper as he did so.

" Nobody loves Scotty anymore. I hate baby!"

Storming to his room he leaped on to his bed with a huff, pulling the covers over him roughly and shutting his eyes to force the images of that horrid creature from his mind.

The baby was crying again and Scott's eyes blinked open groggily, hearing his parent's worried voices speaking over the wailing.

"He just won't stop Jeff! I don't know what to do…"

"We'll just have to keep trying Lucille, he'll settle eventually".

Sighing softly , Scott crept out of bed and in to the hall, immediately catching the eyes of the wailing creature whose cries softened at the sight of the bedraggled boy.

"Baby be quiet," Scott grumbled, tottering over to better see the crying bundle of human flesh.

The baby's eyes widened as he got closer until the cries stopped and he reached out a fist to Scott, gurgling happily.

"I think he was just wanting his big brother," Jeff chuckled softly.

In a time where Scott was always angry that no one seemed to want him anymore, the fact that the baby before him was crying out for him, and wanting him brought a rush of pride to his chest.

"I be the bestest big brother!"

And he would be, despite the learning curves he received along the way. Scott would always remember that at that moment, he had learnt that being a big brother was the biggest joy in the universe.

John was the next baby brother to be gifted to the Tracy family, and by that time Scott was proud of his role as big brother, even when his siblings annoyed him sometimes.

"John! Get in here now!" Scott yelled as he caught sight of his diary open on his bed.

For days Scott had seen a curious four year old John trying to look at his diary, and to his annoyance the boy didn't seem to understand privacy.

John skidded in to the room with a big smile, aqua eyes shining with the excitement of a child.

"Yeah S-Scotty?" John asked curiously.

Scott growled in annoyance. The little twerp was pretending that he hadn't done anything wrong even though he knew he had.

"How many times have I told you not to touch my diary?" He asked, voice deadly calm.

John seemed to be considering the question, counting slowly on his fingers before shrugging slightly.

"A l-lot of t-times!" He chirped.

Scott's face reddened in anger and he grabbed John's arm roughly, pulling his younger brother out in to the hallway towards a spot where Scott knew John's loud and annoying voice would not be heard.

"Ow Scotty! Y-You're hurting me!" John cried loudly, trying to pull away from his elder brother's grip.

"I told you not to read my diary because it is private and you read it anyway! Stay here until you've learned your lesson!" Scott growled opening the old fashioned linen closet and shutting his brother inside before locking it with the key.

His parents had installed locks on a lot of the doors when his mother had first gotten pregnant, knowing a baby's tendency to get in to things they shouldn't and Scott used this to his full advantage.

"I didn't do it Scotty! I-I promise!" John wailed, little fists banging against the door.

Scowling at the locked door, Scott turned a walked away, the wails of his younger brother dying away.

2 hours later Jeff Tracy entered the living-room and smiled down at his two eldest sons. It wasn't often he got to take a break and he happily plopped himself down on the couch beside them. The boys looked up from their books happily, excited to see their father on one of his rare moments out of work.

"So boys, how are your days going so far?"

Virgil and Scott shared a conspiratorial glance before chorusing "good!"

Jeff shook his head at his mischievous sons before a thought occurred to him, one that had been niggling at the back of his mind since he entered the room.

"Scott, Virgil, where's Johnny?"

Virgil stared back at him with a confused and slightly blank expression, whilst Scott's gaze immediately turned mutinous and upset.

"Scott," Jeff prompted evenly.

Scott grit his teeth before glaring up at his father. "You know how I was telling John not to read my journal? Well he read it. I found it open on the bed and he lied about it when I asked him if he had read it. I locked him in the hall closet, he needs to think about his actions," Scott growled.

Jeff blinked, mind whirring with a dizzying array of thoughts. _He needs to think about his actions_ … Something he always told his kids when they were misbehaving and he'd sent them to their rooms. Only this time, John had ben locked in a cupboard for an unknown amount of time, and knowing John, who was so anxious and shy at the best of times, he would be absolutely freaking out.

Leaping to his feet, followed by Scott and Virgil, he raced to the hallway, spotting the key in its usual place. No sounds came from the closet, and when he wrenched open he door he saw possibly the most heartbreaking sight of his years so far.

John was curled up on the floor, eyes streaming with tears and mouth open in silent wailing, staring at empty space. His hands, which were curled to his chest, were covered in blood, and with a horrified gasp Jeff realized that his son has been tearing, _clawing_ at the door to try and get himself out.

He quickly dropped to his knees beside his son and gathered him in to his arms, shaking him slightly to entice a reaction.

John's gaze remained fixed on some unknown point, tears wetting Jeff's shirt where they fell. Jeff frantically clutched his son close, feeling the accelerated little heart beat against his chest and feeling the small puffs of warm air escaping his son's lips, without these telltale signs he doubted he'd know if John was even live at all.

"John? Can you hear me? I need you to look at me, Johnny," Jeff murmured, voice rough with emotion.

It was as if Jeff's voice was all John had been waiting for, his aqua eyes blinked slowly, mouth falling closed from its silent wailing with a dull _clomp_. Slow his eyes focused enough to see Jeff staring down at him and immediately the tears were back, falling at an incredible pace as slight shaking began.

"Daddy?" John's frightened voice asked.

Jeff shifted his son to a better position in his arms before standing, causing John's head to spin from the sudden change in altitude.

"Yeah Johnny, daddy's here, you're okay now," Jeff reassured soothingly, noting the pallor of his son's teary face and the shaking in his arms, immediately noting the symptoms of shock.

John blinked up at him slowly before curling closer in to his warmth, neither noticing the wide eyed teens in the hall.

Later Scott would watch John sleeping in a bed in the med-bay, hands bound tightly in bandages and an IV inserted in the crook of his elbow. He would sit and watch the rise and fall of his brother's chest and promise himself that no matter how angry he got he would never, ever, hurt any of his brothers like this again.

Later he would also find out that John had been telling the truth, he hadn't been the one to read Scott's journal, it had been Virgil.

He learned to be a big brother when his world crashed down around him.

Their mother was dead.

He sat amongst his brothers in the hospital room, watching his father cry in the corridor whilst a doctor tried to explain to him how sorry he was and that there was nothing they could have done to help her.

Virgil was the calmest, having Gordon curled up on his lap and hushing his loud crying whilst John, who despite his usual dislike of touch, had curled in to Virgil's side and was crying silently to himself. Scott sat with his head in his hands, absolutely in disbelief.

No more dancing round the living room to Virgil's piano tunes, or drawing in the sunshine, or braiding flowers in to his mother's hair to make her smile.

He loved that smile.

Had loved that smile.

Five-year-old Alan watched his siblings with wide eyes, wondering why they were crying and sad. Scott blinked open watery eyes to gaze at his littlest brother and he tugged on Scott's elbow.

"Scotty, when's mummy coming back?" Alan chirped curiously.

Scott grit his teeth slightly, drawing Alan in to a tight hug, his father should be the one to do this but his father was busy, he was the man of the room now.

"Alan…do you remember when the butterfly you caught stopped moving and mummy told you all about how it went to heaven?" Scott asked, voice husky as he spoke through the tears.

Alan nodded, sticking his thumb in to his mouth, a childish habit he hadn't yet grown out of. How Scott hated to destroy that innocent expression.

"Well mummy went to visit your butterfly".

Alan's face scrunched up in worry and his eyes filled with tears, of course the little one wouldn't understand why his mother had suddenly gone away.

"Will she be back soon? I want to show her the picture I drew," Alan asked hopefully.

Tears poured out of Scott's eyes as Alan's words hit him. He hadn't been that much younger than Alan when he too had wanted to show his mummy a picture he had drawn, she never did get time to see his drawing.

"Mummy can't look at your picture 'cause heaven's real far away. But when we get home I'll look at your picture with you, Alan, how does that sound?" Scott compromised, trying to sound the least bit positive.

Alan shot forward for a hug, tears wetting Scott's purple shirt.

"I want mummy!"

Closing his eyes against the tears and clutching his baby brother close, Scott huffed out a dry laugh.

"Me too buddy, me too".

That day Scott learnt that you have to go through fire to emerge a warrior.

Alan had dropped asleep in his arms long before Scott had finished his reminiscing. It was humbling, too look back on how far he had come as a brother. There was no greater thing in his life than to hold his baby brothers and know that they were safe from all that life could throw at them because he was there, the guard at the gates their hearts. Scott gently pulled away from Alan before drawing the covers tighter around the snuffling body of his little sibling. Alan would fight off this cold like he always did, and yet he would worry still. Reaching in to his pocket and opening the brown leather wallet he knew would be there he extracted the childish drawing within its folds, gazing fondly down at the terrible depiction of his older siblings that Alan had drawn so long ago in that hospital waiting room.

"You'd be proud of us mum, dad, look how far we've come".

 _ **And there you go guys! I didn't get any prompts this time so I went on my own tangent and produced this little fluff fest. Anyway, prompts are incredibly welcome and I would love to hear any feedback you've got! I just got on school holidays so there should be a lot of updates coming your way.**_


	17. Namesake

Life had been better since Jeff Tracy had taken them in.

They were warm, fed and clean for the first time in weeks and Scott had even started to warm up to his new owner. Their mother had been a street cat all her life and had cautioned them against being attached to humans.

" _Scotty, humans will love you for a while but when they get tired of you you'll be out here on the streets again, it's better to not get your hopes up at all_ ".

And yet Jeff Tracy was unlike any human he had ever met, even if he did have that bad habit of poking the kittens with sharp objects to make them 'healthy'.

As he opened his eyes slowly, mind still foggy with sleep he startled slightly to find a furry face up close to his own.

Familiar sparkling eyes blinked innocently down at him and Scott sighed in annoyance.

"Gordon, why did you feel the need to wake me up?"

The light orange furred kitten emitted a rumbling laugh before gesturing to the rest of the room with his tail.

"Scotty, the humans are acting all weird. Jeff won't stop cleaning and his mother isn't even out of bed yet! She's always up first to make that disgusting human food," Gordon replied.

Scott lifted his head, attempting not to disturb the rest of the sleeping kitten pile with his movements. Gordon was right. Jeff was flitting about the room without his strange white coat, and he was stringing up coloured paper for some unknown reason.

"I'll go ask what the matter is, you make sure you don't wake up any of the others," Scott grumbled before leaping out of the confines of their soft bed.

Scampering over to his new owner, he weaved around Jeff's feet to gain his attention.

The human let out a loud laugh as he noticed the silver kitten, reaching down with ginormous hands to pluck him from the ground, causing Scott to let out a squeak of surprise as his altitude changed.

"Good morning little rascal, what are you wanting?" Jeff greeted.

" What are you doing?" Scott mewed, gazing in to the kind face that he was held level with.

Jeff caressed Scott's ears, right where he knew the kitten liked it best.

"Look who's talkative this morning! I reckon you and your little brother are curious as to what I'm doing? Well my older brothers are coming around to celebrate mum's birthday and they are so excited to meet you. Scott, the man you're named after is going to be there".

Scott tilted his head in to the petting of his owner, purring in delight as his sweet spot was scratched lightly, causing his eyes to go half lidded and his body to practically melt.

Chuckling at the sight of the silver kitten's delight, Jeff hoisted Scott up on to his shoulder so he could make his way down the stairs to the front door of the vet clinic, knowing that his brothers were bound to turn up any moment.

A loud banging confirmed his suspicions and he hurried the last few steps, weaving past sterile tables to reach the door.

As the door was flung open Scott caught sight of five men who made his tail fluff up with nervousness, not used to being around so many new people all at once.

The man who lead the way inside leaped forward to hug Jeff, ignorant of the kitten sitting precariously on his shoulder.

Scott was jolted from his perch as the two men collided and he let out a squeal of fear as the ground raced towards him. He stretched out his paws, prepared to land painfully on his feet when his fall was suddenly arrested.

The sudden impact of warm hands encircling his belly pushed the air out of his lungs and he gaped his mouth open pitifully, little chest heaving in an attempt to take in air.

Through blurry eyes he caught sight of worried sky blue orbs staring back at him and a concerned frown on a tanned human face before he was spun dizzily and handed to a familiar face, Jeff Tracy.

Scott felt familiar calloused cupping his body as he lay on his side, panting to steadily gain back his lost oxygen and starting to feel his senses flood back the more the breathed.

"Oh I am so sorry! I didn't even notice him on your shoulder Jeff!" A panicked voice stated through the rushing in his ears.

He twitched his paws feebly as he was cuddled to a warm chest, feeling it rumble as his owner spoke.

"It's alright Alan, the kitten is just fine he only got the breath knocked out of him when he was caught".

"Trust Scotty to catch him, are your protective instincts never turned off?" A light voice chuckled softly.

And then a voice, so rich and baritone that it seemed to shake Scott's very bones caused him to slowly lift his head in wonder, eyes seeking out a tall man with tanned skin, dark brown hair and eyes the colour of the summer sky.

" Scotty, since you managed to catch my little warrior, would you like to be the first to hold Scott Tracy Junior?" Jeff offered, his extending arms bringing Scott ever closer to that mesmerizing human.

And soon he was surrounded by warm hands that lifted him closer to a caring face, holding him so carefully that Scott felt truly safe enough to let his bristling silver fur lay flat.

And then the voice spoke again.

"So, you're named after me huh? A good a choice as any," it rumbled.

Scott mewed curiously, paw reaching out to bat at a slightly crooked nose, unusually blue eyes wide with wonder at this new human in his home.

A rumbling laugh that sent him vibrating issued forth and while Scott knew he would always love Jeff for saving their lives, this…Scott senior was a close second.

"Well we better get up there and see mum, this present is heavier than it looks," the young blonde one remarked.

Funny how his hair seemed to match the sandy blonde colour of Alan's fluffy coat.

In truth it was strange how all of Jeff's older brothers seemed to share physical attributes with his younger siblings sleeping upstairs, and hadn't Jeff called the young one Alan?

Scott senior pulled the silver kitten close as he trooped up the stairs, and Scott found he rather liked being held in the human's arms. 

Jeff had had a hunch that his brothers would like the kittens.

Despite an almost disastrous tumble, his little seemed to have perked up the moment Scotty held him, and as Jeff watched the rest of his older brothers lean over the kitten's bed and gently pick up Scott's sleeping brothers it was clear that they had recognised the similarities between them and the felines.

As the day progressed and the rest of the kittens slowly awoke and adjusted to the petting and hugs from their namesakes, it became clear that his brothers would be visiting many more times. 

In short, the party was a success and his grandmother had been overjoyed to receive her gifts and cake, all purple of course.

As the brothers sat together on the couches in Jeff's living room watching the kittens play with a ball of string on the floor, Virgil mused over the black fluffy kitten currently batting the string to Gordon.

The cat was more muscled than it's siblings even at a young age, with deep green eyes that constantly roamed over its sibling's coats. He chuckled internally, knowing that he too often cast his trained eye over his brothers to make sure they were uninjured and healthy.

He was about to make a comment about Jeff's apt choice of naming when a loud crash from downstairs in the veterinary clinic, causing all their gazes to shoot to Jeff who groaned in annoyance.

"I've got a huge tomcat downstairs whose soul purpose seems to be to escape his cage, I'll go see if I can catch him again, be back in a moment," Jeff explained before standing and marching resolutely towards the stairs, muttering the whole way about pedantic owners and misbehaved pets.

The room settled back in to silence sans the skittering of claws as the kittens raced in to the next room after the string ball rolled away.

"Those kittens sure are cute, must be nice for Jeff to have some animals around here that aren't sick or dying," Gordon commented, amusement lacing his tone as he remembered Jeff animatedly retelling the story of how he found and eventually tamed the wild street kittens.

John shook his head, grinning slightly at his immediately older sibling.

"Honestly I think mum's the one who's enjoying them the most, it's like having five little kids running around again, especially since they carry our names".

Alan opened his mouth to add to the conversation when there was a furious growling noise and a loud squeal of pain from the next room.

Leaping to their feet the brothers sprinted in to the dining-room to find a huge white tomcat snarling at a shivering ball of tiny kittens as a growling silver kitten stood protectively over them, blood dripping from a gash above it's eye.

Before any of the adults could react the white tomcat sprang at Scott, bowling him over despite his attempt at defense and pinning the kitten to the floor as sharp claws tore at delicate silver fur and skin.

A furious growling started up and a multicoloured blur kittens leaped at the white tom, ferociously attacking the on who'd dared hurt their brother.

Regaining their wits once a yelling Jeff barreled up the stairs, the six brothers managed to each pluck up their kittens out of harms way as Jeff wrenched the white tom up in to his arms and marched it hissing and spitting back down to it's cage.

Later that night saw Scott sitting beside a bundle of kittens, gently holding a bandaged Scott junior against his warm chest.

"You know you did well today little one, you lived up to the name you were given. Scott Tracy always protects his brothers, both Scott Tracys".

Cuddled in to a warm embrace, his ears being scratched in just the right way to make him melt in to a furry puddle, Scott felt a profound feeling of safety wash over him like a tidal wave. He loved Jeff but there was in a special place in his heart for Scott Tracy senior. 

_**Okay so that was for those who voted for a continuation of the kitten AU and the prompt for kitten Scott meeting human Scott. Now I'd love some more prompts or continuations from everyone, or even just a comment to show that people are actually reading this. Anyway, apologies for the confusion of having a distinction between human Scott and kitten Scott at times throughout this fic.**_


	18. Prejudice

_**Yes everyone this is a continuation of the winged au arc, I know that a lot of my oneshots lately seem to be au but it just works so well. Anyway, so here's for those who voted for more winged au and whump, because seriously when do I not whump our beloved brothers? Please send in prompts for the next fic.**_

It had taken a long time for Virgil's wings to heal after their accident, and even longer for Alan to stop being crushed by his guilt over the situation. Finally the new family had settled in to a sense of normalcy and routine.

Every day the boys would go for an early morning flight to see the sunrise over the ocean from the highest point in the island before returning for breakfast which was cooked by John, who had discovered his culinary skills surpassed those of Grandma Tracy.

Breakfast was followed by training in the gym, with Jeff teaching them self defense techniques that they would need on missions. Showers often followed this training before a warm lunch and an afternoon of free activity once their lessons were completed and sent to Jeff's computer for marking.

Soon their own individual hobbies had arisen in their leisure time, with Scott devoting much of his time to flying and exploring the island, Virgil to the piano and painting amongst other art forms, John tended to find a quiet spot to read books on space except when Alan wished for him to play with him, Gordon was surprisingly a swimmer, his wings eventually taking on a more oily sheen to allow them to adapt to his frequent swimming trips, and Alan usually played with one of his brothers or read his own books.

It was a good life on Tracy island, and even more so now they had settled in and found a rhythm.

There was one necessary task that usually bored Jeff Tracy, but now he saw it as a learning opportunity. The quarter year supply run was due and while he rarely needed to fly with the aid of machines it would be a good time for his adopted sons to learn to pilot aircraft.

To have the boys experience the mainland outside of a cage would also be a beneficial experience considering the line of work they would soon be entering in to.

"Wow! Johnny look at that! Those people are on a rollercoaster!" Alan chirped, tugging on John's arm so he would gaze in the appropriate direction.

"I see them Alan, now come on we're falling behind the others," John replied with amusement colouring his tone.

Alan sighed dramatically as they jogged to catch up to their fast paced siblings and adoptive parent leading the way to the large warehouse set up on the harbor.

"Alright, Scott has the list of supplies we need from this warehouse, once you collect them all wait for me there, I'll be back as soon as I've gone to the specialty machinists for a part we need," Jeff ordered, nodding towards a small building at the end of the long street.

Nodding determinedly, the boys entered the warehouse, eyes widening as they caught sight of the sea of shelves and products.

"How much stuff do you think they crammed in this place? It's huge!" Gordon exclaimed, scanning the mounds of exotic goods at the beginning of the shelves.

"I don't know Gordo, but we better find all the items on this list before Jeff gets back".

Navigating the endless shelves with their trolley-load of goods was difficult, especially since they had no idea where anything was, and they were only partially completed when they spotted one of the young store clerks.

He looked to be new, and was stacking boxes full of some exotic foodstuff that seemed to be way too heavy for him. Already he had amassed a high tower of boxes and as he moved to place the last one a little girl rounded the corner, happily rushing to the toy shelves opposite.

Virgil and Gordon noticed the danger at the same time, and both of the sprinted forward as the tower of boxes toppled, upsetting the balance of the toy shelves and causing a cascade of toys and heavy shelving falling towards the little girl who stared at it coming towards her with wide blue eyes and a startled scream.

Virgil and Gordon dropped to their knees, their wings stretching out in tandem to curve and cover the girl.

Their wings were stronger after their training and their backs stopped the shelving, wings protecting her from the toys that bounced harmlessly off of a canopy of black and light orange plumage.

When the toy cascade slowed, Scott, Alan and John who had raced after their brothers, worked together to push the shelving upright so their brothers could get out, wings having instinctively spread out to steady them as they pushed as a unit.

Wings retracting to lay flush to their backs, Scott and John helped their kneeling brothers to their feet.

Virgil looked over the little girl with a trained eye, and besides a crumpled pink dress and messy pigtails she appeared unharmed. She stared back at him, mouth open wide with awe at the teenagers whose huge wings had sheltered her.

The silence was shattered by a gasp from the young store clerk.

"You…you're all hybrids! Get away from her this instant," he growled, his eyes betraying his terror at the sight of them but his resolve none the less.

Scott held up his hands placatingly.

"Hang on a moment and let us explain. We just saved her, we're not going to hurt her," he explained calmly, knowing any false move could be their end.

The clerk seemed to be considering them, his former scowl disappearing slightly before a loud shout rang out from the end of the aisle.

"Hybrids!"

"Mutant scum!"

"Get them!"

People swarmed from either end of the aisle, faces a picture of thundering rage as they took in the shaky clerk and the little girl standing close to Virgil.

Scott's breathing picked up and his senses went on high alert, immediately casting his eyes to his siblings.

"We've got to get out of here now!"

Spreading their wings to their full span and pushing down hard with their well trained muscles they lifted above the forming crowd, Scott leading the way to the open windows that let in cool air.

Making sure his brothers stayed in a tight formation, Virgil brought up the rear, casting a terrified glance at the screaming crowd racing towards the doors after them, his keen ears catching the distressed cry of "birdie come back!" from the girl he'd help save.

They cleared the window easily just as the first humans streamed out of the doors and the crowd on the streets caught sight of them and joined the throng.

Memories of being shoved in cages as their biological parents sneered at them and pocketed their cash, of being wheeled out to the black market auctioneer's van as the residents of their little town screamed and threw things at them as they passed, huddled together in terror, these memories spurred them to put on a burst of speed.

They were so panicked and single-minded that they didn't notice the standard issue net gun shooting towards them until heavy fibres wrapped around their group, pulling their wings uncomfortably to their sides and starting a plummet to the soft grass of the park beside the road.

Thankfully they hadn't been higher up but the impact still hurt and the swarm of humans that assaulted their sight the moment they managed to regain their equilibrium hurt even more.

The noise was deafening, a chant having started up that swept through the gathering.

"No more hybrids!" repeated over and over till it made their ears hurt.

Terror made them freeze, minds rushing with dizzying memories, eyes staring up at the crowds around them with abject fear.

The sound of screeching tires had the chanting dying down in favour of cheers and applause, officers in black uniforms taking hold of the net and dragging them, Tasers springing out to send volts of electricity surging through each of the teen's veins, the crowd's applause drowning out the choked screams of pain as the Tasers were left on longer than strictly necessary.

Virgil's swirling world exploded in to a fire of pain before a numbing darkness, where cheers were silent and the face of prejudice couldn't rear its ugly head.

If this was death then death felt good. 

It was the screaming that alerted Jeff Tracy to a problem outside the store.

Having obtained the part he needed, he'd been browsing the equipment, searching for rescue tools to fit the teenagers of his home.

The sensitive hearing had picked up the sounds of yelling, taunts of,

"Filthy creatures!"

"Abominations"

and then a chant that had been deafeningly loud,

" _No more hybrids_!"

He dropped everything in his hands, sprinting out the door of the shop having only just noticed that the man at the checkout had been gone for a few minutes already, having too joined the crowd.

The sea of humans surrounding the park had his wings itching to break free and a snarl of fury building in his chest as his enhanced eyesight zeroed in on five teenagers caught up in a net as the Mutant Police struck them with Tasers and dragged them in to a van, intent on delivering them to the government to be tortured or killed, at best imprisoned in inhuman conditions for life.

Knowing that if he revealed himself now he would cause a drama that would end up with him caught in the exact same way he sprinting behind a building, unfurling his huge white wings to carry him directly upwards towards the cloudy sky.

He sped upwards like a bullet, piercing the cloud layer to hide himself before scanning to sight the van as it sped along the road with its precious cargo.

He grinned sadistically as he shot forward, wings propelling him at far greater speeds than the van itself and knowing that in two turns the van would be on a mostly untouched road where he could strike.

Soaring above, keeping pace with the van below he watched as it turned off on to a quieter road where other cars barely followed since it lead to a heavily wooded area and away from town.

His wings folded against his body and he dropped, the wind ripping through his rapidly greying hair as he sped towards his target, wings unfurling at the last moment to allow him to drop quietly on to the top of the van where he crouched low, avoiding the glance of the driver.

Keeping a hold of the top of the van he dropped so his foot could reach the latch that held the back of the van closed, his heavy duty boots hammering against it until it popped downwards and the door sprang upwards at the same time as he swung himself inwards.

One officer guarded the five limp forms thrown haphazardly in to the back and Jeff's swing caught the man right in the chest, allowing Jeff time to spring forward and slam a fist through the glass dividing the front and back of the van.

The driver and his two passengers yelled furiously and raised their guns to fire but they never got the chance.

Red eyed with rage, Jeff's mind was lost in the haze of punches, and soon enough his mind cleared enough to notice that the three officers were unconscious and his own hands were covered in blood.

He pushed himself backwards, wings pulling closer to his body to avoid the broken glass shards and he moved to survey the state of his children.

In the weeks that he had spent with them he knew without a doubt that these boys were his babies, and no one touched Jeff Tracy's little ones.

The sight that greeted him was heartbreaking.

Five limp teens lay sprawled uncomfortably, having their wings painfully tied close to their body, trapping their arms as well. Their ankles and necks had been shackled to the loops present on the sides of the van. They weren't unconscious the Taser's effects and the numbing horror of their first experience of a mob mentality had pushed them in to severe shock and their wide eyes stared eerily in to nothingness.

Compassion burnt within his blood, causing hot tears to spill down his cheeks as he gently used a piece of glass to saw through the ropes, allowing their wings to spill free, before taking the keys to their shackles off of their unconscious guard.

 _There was another time long before this moment when he had done the same for a woman with hair of gold and eyes of sapphire. A woman who had been imprisoned when the doctors at the hospital refused to treat her pneumonia. He'd unshackled her and snuck her out of prison as she wheezed and rasped in his arms._

 _She'd taken his hand with tears in her eyes, "Jeff I'm sorry"._

Jeff gently knelt down in front of Scott, lifting a warm hand to cup the child's icy cheek.

"Scott, I don't know if you can hear me but I'm taking you boys home, you're safe now".

Of course it was lie. They were never safe as long as they lived and breathed, as long as they flew…Prejudice and adversity were ugly monsters, but when the Thunderbirds were up an running they would fight until all monsters were dead and gone.


	19. Altruism

It was their family curse, some said.

To be so full of generosity and compassion that five young men would be willing to risk their own lives to save others. The accursed kindness that rarely afflicted anyone in those days had inflicted the Tracy brothers hard. They made a name for it eventually, altruism.

And what a curse Altruism was.

For whatever good they seemed to do for the world, evil seemed to throw right back in to their faces until they truly lost everything.

They hadn't really noticed what was happening until it was too late.

The missile that brought all five boys together to stop it had to be diverted before it made landfall on the east coast of America. It was close but they managed to divert it, as shame that that diversion sent it up to space where it destroyed Thunderbird Five.

Thank the heavens John had been on Earth at the time. It was unfortunate, but at least lives were not lost in the process.

Though the next time they were not so lucky.

To save a plane full of passengers whose aircraft had been hacked by the Hood they had to give their worst enemy the coordinates of Tracy island, their base.

Ten minutes later their home was gone, blown up along with Grandma Tracy and Brains.

It wasn't long before they had to go against GDF orders and save one of the enemy Hood, after all, the man was dying and that was all he really was at heart, a man with a life, a family and plans for his future.

Three days later GDF pulled out all support for the Tracy brothers.

Running four highly expensive aircraft and a slew of other gadgets was not cheap and after several missions overseas they didn't have enough money to run their Thunderbirds.

It wasn't much longer before they were stuck doing small rescues with what limited gadgets they still had left, and yet without a home or a GDF barracks, they were living at one of Kayo's safe houses for secret missions. Penelope would have loved to help them but she had been diagnosed with cancer and all her funds had been diverted to trying new treatments.

They persisted; doing anything they could to help people on the streets of New York where they had landed last.

After saving three children from a falling construction project they had returned to Kayo's apartment to find out that their best friend had died, and her home was being sold off.

They were on the streets now, struggling for any meals and yet still persisting, because that was what they did. Scott, Virgil and John all found work, and managed to get enough spare change to feed them all and get basic clothing.

Gordon and Alan strolled the streets in the day, tending to any issues they found. The elder siblings patrolled at night.

One night they were mistaken for the thieves they had jut chased off and Virgil was shot by a cop. He had died in Scott's arms.

Three weeks later Gordon was caught up in a terrorist bombing and blown to pieces, they had no body to bury.

Alan was next, the youngest and most innocent and beautiful child had been pure to the end, helping a kid run away from a school bully and being caught in a side punch that sent him reeling backwards in to a full storm drain. He'd drowned without ever regaining consciousness.

Scott and John were devastated.

They did their best but in the end John had succumbed to starvation and died having secretly being skipping meals to give Scott more food.

They were gone, and Scott's worst nightmare had come true.

He was alone.

And yet it didn't stop him.

He soldiered on like a good Tracy. He did his best to help people and forget about his own self. He cared so much about others that he didn't care about the oncoming truck, he did however care about the old woman who looked so much like his beloved grandmother, who wouldn't make it out of the way fast enough.

He pushed her out of the way and was hit in her place, every bone in his body shattered like a porcelain doll.

He died that day.

They had all died.

And yet it wasn't all tears, after all, while it was sad that a young man had died no one had known his name anyway, much less the work he'd done. The unnamed body at the morgue had one condolence, his brothers had never lived to see him die.

* * *

 _ **So yeah, no one actually sent in any ideas for more chapters so I ran with this old one. Sorry for everyone out there who hates deathfics but I need your prompts to continue or else I'm liable to do depressing fics like this little snippet.**_


	20. Helping Paws

Jeff felt awful, his nose was clogged, his throat thick and sore, his muscles aching as if he'd run a marathon with Alan.

All the symptoms summed up to create a miserable picture in his mind. And that picture spelled out the flu.

Opening his eyes to mere slits as the early morning light assailed his senses, he gazed down at the multicolour bundle of kittens who were essentially being the little spoon, seeking out the warmth of their owner.

He opened his mouth to gently wake little Scott when it was as though a beast attempted to claw out of his throat.

Hacking and coughing he gasped for breath is between spasms, eyes shut tight against the pain in his chest.

The fit subsided slowly, leaving him breathless and miserable as he slowly blinked open his eyes again at a soft pressure on his lap.

Five kittens sat looking up at him, eyes dopey with sleep but what appeared to be concern clear on their features.

"Sorry guys, didn't mean to wake you up like that," Jeff murmured scratchily, reaching a trembling hand up to scratch Scott's ears when the silver kitten flicked them curiously.

A harsh knocking at his bedroom door caused him to grimace as the sound pervaded his delicate ears and he glared through half-lidded eyes as his mother made her way inside.

She stopped on the threshold to his bedroom, casting an expert eyes over her son's miserable countenance and the five worried kittens before crossing her arms and adopting her 'mum look'.

"You, young man, are staying in bed today".

Jeff shook his head adamantly, already beginning to peel the covers away.

"I can't mum, I've got surgeries booked in today and you know how patients flood the surgery on a Tuesday," Jeff argued, moving to slide his aching legs off of the bed.

A loud hiss had him hastily drawing his feet back, and he gazed with wide blue eyes at the five kittens who were hissing at him warningly, fur puffed out in an attempt at intimidation that oddly backfired to make them cuter.

"See, even your kids agree with me," his mother murmured, a smug tone colouring her voice.

"They're not my kids, they're my pets and you know it," Jeff grumbled, reaching out to brush the kittens out of the way gently.

"You know you treat them like children! Just yesterday you were saying how proud of them you were and how 'your boys' are just like they're daddy," his mother chuckled, moving to propel her son back in to his bed, which was not a hard task in his current state.

"Fine, I get the message. I have a weird relationship with my cats and I'm sick. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm a qualified vet with a surgery to run," Jeff protested mildly, even as he settled back in to his pillows.

"You just go back to sleep, I'm calling your brother to take over for today, he has the whole week off anyway".

And sleep he did.

* * *

"You should go see your brother".

Virgil sighed as his knees cracked when he bent to place his bag on the kitchen table. Glancing up from his supply bag he noticed his mother standing by the stove, stirring a pot of what suspiciously looked like dog food.

"Good morning to you too mum. I'll go see what little Scotty has gotten himself in to before I head downstairs to open up. Have you fed the little guys yet?"

His mother glanced up from her…cooking, and waved her ladle at him threateningly.

"Yes I did feed the little terrors and you can tell their daddy that no matter ho cute they look he is not to feed them any extra till dinner".

Snorting in amusement, Virgil headed up the carpeted stairs to his brother's bedroom where he just knew his baby bro would be miserable. Keeping an eye out for little scampering kittens beneath his work boots, he opened the door and had to stifle a laugh at the sight of his brother.

Jeff was laid up in bed, eyes glassy with fever and obviously not entirely there mentally as he was currently stroking thin air and mumbling under his breath. The kittens were curled around him in various states of distress as their master uttered deliriously.

Crossing to the bed, Virgil dropped to sit beside his brother, reaching a hand to gauge the temperature ravaging his baby bro's system.

Glassy eyes flitted to meet his own chocolate brown depths.

" Virge! Mum said you were coming to see me!"

Virgil chuckled softly, stroking the fringe off of his brother's boiling forehead.

" Not exactly, Jeff, but I did come to take over the surgery till you're feeling better again".

Jeff stared up at him with curious eyes, a broad grin stretching across his tanned face.

"But I feel great!"

"I'm sure you do champ, but let's just sit you up so you can have some medicine that'll make you feeling even more great," Virgil soothed, reaching behind his brother's back to pull him up in to a semi upright position.

Jeff's eyes immediately narrowed and he crossed his arms mutinously.

"No medicine that'll make me sleep, you know how some medicines affect me," Jeff grumbled.

Reaching out a small cup of flu syrup, Virgil fought to keep his face devoid of any amusement at the sight of his adult brother acting like the child he remembered.

Five minutes later found Virgil securely tucking in his youngest brother as he lay motionless in his bed.

"Sleep well Jeff, I'll be back up to check on you later," he murmured before leaving the room, shutting the door softly behind him.

Before he could continue towards the stairs to the surgery he found himself halting abruptly to avoid the gaggle of kittens sitting at his feet.

"What are you boys doing? I'm already late!" Virgil sighed, stepping over them effortlessly.

As he tramped quickly down the stairs, pulling on his white coat as he did so, his ears picked up the sounds of pattering feet behind him and he exited to stairwell just in front of his kitten followers.

"Well, I guess you boys are coming to work then. You can help out in reception".

Surprisingly enough they really did help out.

At nine in the morning he opened the doors to find several owners waiting on the sidewalk, eager to have him look over their precious pets.

There was Lacy Andrews, the teenage girl with her rabbit whose fur was falling out for some unknown reason. She had been crying hysterically at the thought of what could be wrong with 'Mr Floppyears'. She'd ceased her crying immediately when Scott and Gordon had trotted up to wind around her legs and for the next half hour they let her pet them whilst he diagnosed her rabbit and sent her on her way with the necessary creams and instructions.

Mrs Bates, the eighty-six-year-old grandmother of seven had come in raving about what her beloved Maltese terrier had done to himself now. Apparently her dog had sprained his paw when he was chasing squirrels in the backyard and she'd come to have his splint taken off and the paw reexamined for any further complications. The dog had wailed and whined for the duration of the process until John had jumped up on the table, holding the dog's fascinated attention long enough for Virgil to finally get the splint off of the fidgeting menace.

Lady Penelope, a personal friend of Jeff's, had brought in a rather timid Siamese kitten who was not much older than Jeff's boys. The kitten who was also named Lady Penelope was shivering something awful before he even came near her, and she looked horrified at the sight of the long needle which would insert her microchip. Virgil was struggling with what to try until he remembered the kittens playing in reception.

"Can you hang on a minute my Lady? I'll be right back".

Quickly making his way to reception, he spotted the kittens playing around with some of the children waiting with their parents, and his gaze zeroed in on the fluffy pale gold kitten who skidded across the floor towards him.

Leaning down he scooped up little Alan with a pleased smirk.

"Come on Allie, you've got work to do," he murmured softly to the wide eyed little tyke.

Placing him down on the table, Virgil was pleased to note that little Penelope was watching the new arrival with keen interest, her shaking having lessened immediately. Alan trotted over to her confidently, mewing to her in his adorable kitten squeak.

"Hi! I'm Alan, what's your name?"

The Siamese delicately leant forward to take in his scent, pale blue eyes softening at the sight of a fellow feline.

"Penelope! I'm so glad you're here Alan, that human with the dark fur on his head is trying to hurt me!" She replied shakily, casting her owner a worried glance.

Alan bared his teeth in a smile and purred deep within his chest.

"You don't have to worry Penelope, that's Virgil, he's a brother to my owner and he's really nice! What he does might hurt you a little but I promise you're safe as long as me or one of my brothers is here!"

Virgil was pleased to note he didn't experience any issues after introducing the kittens to one another, and he found it easy to inject the microchip when Alan was purring reassuringly to his newfound friend.

"You know what," Virgil murmured as Lady Penelope took her kitten out the revolving doors at the end of their appointment, "It wasn't such a bad idea for Jeff to keep you kids around the place".

* * *

Jeff felt as if his eyelids were weighed down by boulders and his head throbbed painfully to a drum beat he didn't recognise. There was warmth under his blankets and a familiar voice that called to him gently.

Hitching open his groggy blue eyes he found his vision overtaken by his brother's face as he leant over him, a warm smile on his rugged face.

"Virge?" Jeff murmured imploringly.

"Everything's fine, sorry I woke you up but I was just bringing up a special delivery," Virgil murmured reassuringly, placing his bundle on the bed beside him.

Jeff's tired smile shone as he gazed at the five brightly coloured kittens sleeping in a pile, and the way in which they huddled towards his warmth unconsciously.

"They were great today Jeff, little charmers just like you. They conked out at closing time though, little ones were tired from their big day".

Jeff smirked, puling an arm around them as his eyes drifted shut again to the sound of soothing purring and the pressure of a light kiss on his forehead.

"Love ya bro".

 _ **Sorry for the delay in posting guys, I've been studying for exams so I doubt I'll be posting much for the next few weeks. When they finish I'll be back to more regular posting but don't be afraid too end in your prompts. This was a fill for a prompt sent in about a continuations of the kitten Au featuring a siamese Lady Penelope.**_


	21. Monsters Under the Bed

We all fear them at some time in our lives.

We feel their eyes watching us and fear their actions once the lights go out, and while you can't always see them when you peer in to the gloom, you always fear their presence.

For no matter what adults say, children always fear the monsters under their beds.

But what children do not yet understand is that the true monsters, the true evils of the universe do not hide under beds, but rather great you on the street every day and sell you your groceries. Monsters live amongst us, not hidden away like we wish they were.

But who is to say who is the monster and who is an innocent child?

Apparently the entire human population.

* * *

Jacey Matthews lay sprawled on the hot concrete, whimpering softly as the sound of screams and punches made it past his ears. His teary eyes caught sight of his sister snarling as she took on a man three times her size, desperation in her bright yellow eyes.

" _**Kill them! Kill the vermin!"**_

He curled in a ball, desperately trying to escape the violent crowd surrounding him and hide himself away from the world, his ears flat against his head caused sound to be muffled, but he could still make out their panicked breathing of his older sister as she fought in vain for their survival.

" Monsters! They'll infect our children with their hideous disease!" One woman yelled close to him, causing him to wince at the high decibels.

" They'll wreak havoc on our town!"

"We should have done this when they were born!"

" _ **Monsters! Vermin! Filth!"**_ The crowd chanted, a swelling mass of voices and fists and townspeople swarmed to join the throng around the two terrified siblings.

This happened regularly, especially in a country town like theirs where city police and other law enforcement took at least an hour to reach them and deal with threats. The people themselves tended to just beat hybrids to death, it was quicker that way.

The chanting of the crowd was deafening, but not loud enough to stifle the screaming of his sister as he scratched and raked at any flesh she could reach.

"Stop! Just listen to us, we are not monsters! You have to believe me, we weren't going to harm anyone!" She cried desperately, attempting to speak over the crowd.

Jacey felt tears slip down his cheeks as a harsh punch brought his sister to the pavement with a loud CRACK! She lay silent after that, the pale cream pavement slowly turning red with her life force. " _God save me!_ " he sobbed quietly as the men moved to advance on him next now that his sister was silent.

The deafening chant was back, renewed with a vigor that almost left them breathless, making his world swirl with terror and hopelessness, before a sudden silence settled over the crowd.

Carefully peeling open his yellowed eyes to stare owlishly at the crowd, he caught sight of what made them finally cease the horrid chanting.

They were angels, five of them.

With huge wings that splayed out against the wind majestically, the sun causing their unique feathers to glow with inner fire. They landed swiftly, handsome and yet young faces turning to stony expressions as they caught sight of the situation.

No one moved or spoke as the crowd stared with wide eyes at the new arrivals whose blue suits showed off their beautiful bodies and wings.

The angels had saved him, the heavens had received his desperate prayers and sent warriors to free him!

A camera flash startled the youngest angel, who nudged the oldest and gestured to the swarm of media and currently filming news reporters covering the disturbance.

The eldest cleared his throat, sky blue eyes flashing with fury as he gently bent and picked up his sister's body, the flowing red blood covering his perfect suit and silvery wings dipping in to the gore to shine grimly.

"We are the Thunderbirds, avian hybrids determined to make a difference in this world by saving lives, both human and hybrid. What has happened here today is a disgusting example of the behavior shown towards an innocent people. What could this little girl have done to deserve to be beaten to death?" The silver winged angel state confidently, the crowd silenced to listen to his every word as cameras flashed in his eyes.

He swallowed, gaze filled with grief at the sight of the child's bloodied body in his arms. The black winged angel put a supportive hand on his brother's shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly before he too addressed the crowd.

"This is a message for all peoples, hybrid or human. The Thunderbirds are here to help, but we do not condone this senseless violence or those who would permit it. We will work for peace, and fight anyone who dares stand in the way of it".

Jacey's mouth dropped open in awe at the angel's words, they were going to save people? For the first time, the angels would finally answer the cries of his people when they were in need.

The youngest angel crouched in front of him, sky blue eyes gently examining his bruises and cuts.

"I'm Alan, my brothers and I are going to help you find a safe place to live. Do you have parents?" He asked, his rich voice breaking through the fog of Jacey's mind.

Meeting his eyes timidly, Jacey managed to sit up and face him properly, his dark tail wrapping around his body for comfort.

"My sister Margo always says our parents got taken away and we've gotta be extra careful that we don't go away too. Can I see her now? Are you gonna make her okay again?" Jacey inquired, desperate hope laced in his young voice.

Alan's gaze clouded slightly and he moved closer to draw Jacey in to gentle hug.

"Margo will be going somewhere else, somewhere without nasty humans where she can see your parents again," He murmured softly.

Jacey's confused expression cleared and he smiled brightly, yellowed eyes flashing with joy.

"You mean you can take her back to heaven with you? Can I come?" Jacey asked eagerly.

Alan drew him closer, squeezing him tight to his chest so the child wouldn't see the sudden tears welling in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Jacey, you'll have to stay here with us, we'll find you a nice place to stay with a kind family and lots of friends. You'll be safe there," Alan murmured softly.

Jacey's tears streaked down his cheeks, falling on slayed flight feathers that wrapped around them both.

"No humans will hurt us?"

"No humans".

* * *

It was all over the media the next day, broadcasted across the globe in hundreds of languages and tongues. News of the Thunderbirds and Scott's message to the world was causing divided emotions amongst the listeners.

The boys sat in the living room of their island home, watching yet another replay of the events that had unfolded, seeing the bloodied body yet again.

It had taken hours to wash away those physical stains.

Seeing the downcast mood of his adopted children, Jeff reached across to switch the report on to mute, causing five weary sets of eyes to focus on his own.

"I'm proud of how your first mission went," Jeff announced calmly.

Immediately Gordon's eyes narrowed and his neutral look deepened in to a frown.

"It wasn't a success, Margo Matthews died. An innocent girl is dead and her brother is with complete strangers," he muttered.

Jeff's great white wings reached over to wrap around Gordon's shoulder, drawing him closer.

"The way I see it, yes, an innocent girl is dead, but her brother is safe with a family who will love and support him for the rest of his days. You sent a message, all of you, to every hybrid and human alike. You metered between two warring peoples, and no one thus far in our history has been able to do that as well as you all did yesterday," Jeff commented reassuringly, seeing the hope light up in his beloved boys eyes once again.

"I guess we don't get to save everyone every time," John murmured resignedly.

"No, we don't. But as long as we do our best and stand by our principles we will save as many as we can".

It is in these days of turmoil that children learn the facts of life early. That monsters are not always ugly creatures with long claws and fangs, but rather people with skin and bone who look like everyone else.

Hybrid children know that the best.

They understand from birth that they are different, that the world calls them monsters. More often than not monsters are on both sides of the argument.

But what they know the best out of anyone in the world, is that monsters do not live under beds. They live in hearts.

* * *

 _ **Okay so after that slightly more depressing ficlet, I am yet again appealing for prompts and criticism/comments abound. Prompts or continuation would be handy but I already have a prompt for the next chapter.**_


	22. Safe and Sound part 1

It was a miracle that it hadn't rained yet.

A cyclone offshore had caused Tracy Island to be battered by storms and rain for the past three weeks, causing five miserable boys to be shut inside, and a fidgety Jeff to force them in to the gym to burn off their energy.

But for the first time John had woken to the sweet silence that heralded the ceasing of the rain.

It seemed he wasn't the only one who'd noticed since a moment later two blonde haired devils raced in to his room, feathers fluffed with excitement and squeals escaping their mouths.

"Johnny! It's stopped raining!" Alan squeaked as he launched himself on to his ginger brother's bed.

John growled in annoyance as Gordon landed on top of his legs, a sigh seeping out of his lips.

"Yes I noticed, Allie. Why are you racing in here to tell me about the weather?" John muttered.

Gordon and Alan's expressions immediately became sheepish and John's eyes narrowed in contemplation.

"Alright, out with it," John ground out, raising an eyebrow at their hopeful yes.

Gordon leaned closer, mischief alighting his tanned face.

"We're gonna go flying! We need someone older to come with us, will you come John? It has to be our secret though. We'll be back before any of the others wake up anyway," Gordon announced.

John was conflicted. On one hand he was excited at the prospect of spreading his wings but on the other hand he didn't want to sneak out without his brother's knowing where they had gone or to risk the wrath of Jeff Tracy. It was, however, a risk he had to take as his wings gave a compulsive heave at the thought of finally flying again.

"Okay fine, but I'm leaving a note in case we don't get back before they wake up".

* * *

"THIS WAS THE BEST DECISION EVER!"

Gordon and Alan whooped with laughter at John's excited yelling.

The boys soared through the ominous grey clouds, knowing that rain was sure to start at any moment and they had to take advantage of the weather while they could.

Alan's flying had improved since his crash in to Virgil months before, and the young boy had steadily improved since his shaky first flights. John held back his speed in the interest of his brother's shorter wings, but the feeling of the wind through his feathers after so long in side was exhilarating.

"Johnny look! There's an island down there!" Gordon called over the wind, pointing towards a small speck in the ocean that was steadily growing larger as they glided lower to inspect it.

"Do you think Jeff knows about it?" Alan asked curiously.

John folded his wings in and landed smoothly on the cliffside of the rocky island.

"If he did he probably would have taken us out here already. Maybe it's an unclaimed island," John commented, gazing up at the trees growing around him in wonder.

"Not anymore! I claim this island and name it Thunderbird Cove!" Gordon cried out dramatically, planting a pretend flag in the rocks.

John rolled his eyes as he gingerly teetered over the rocks that shifted slightly under his feet. He could hear Alan flapping his wings to slow his descent and he grinned at the thought of how concentrated his brother had been on his landings.

The sudden scream was unexpected.

Immediately John whipped around, bright eyes zeroing in on the sprawled and hysterically crying Alan.

He lifted off the ground, gliding quickly to Alan's side as Gordon mirrored him a moment later.

"ALAN! What happened? Where are you hurt?" John asked frantically, shaking hands hovering over his brother's crumpled form.

"My leg! The rock moved when I landed, it's trapped," Alan sobbed, tear filled eyes staring up at John as if asking him to fix his world.

Gordon sobbed softly and John pushed his younger brother's stress to the side as he moved Alan's wing to get a better look at the issue.

When he'd landed a rock had shifted, causing Alan's leg to fall in to the hole it concealed and leaving him awkwardly sprawled as other rocks had caved in over his foot, pinning him in place.

"It hurts Johnny! Do something!" Alan wailed stiffly.

Determination flooded John's veins, his mind screaming 'What would Scott do?'

"Gordon, you need to stay here with Alan and keep him safe. I'm the fastest, I'll go back and get help!" John ordered, trying to keep the shake out of his voice.

Gordon stared at him with a blank expression, tears still streaming down his face. John reached forward, gripping Gordon's shoulders tightly.

"GORDON! I need you to listen to me!" He bellowed, waiting until he was rewarded with his brother's teary gaze, "You have to keep Alan safe, just stay here please, just look after him while I fly back for help," John repeated slowly.

Immediately Gordon gripped him back, brown eyes wide with fright,

"Johnny what if something happens, I won't know what to do!"

"You'll be fine, Gordon, just trust me, I'll be back as soon as I can. Look, if you get scared just think, 'what would Scott do?' honestly it helps!" John reassured before standing to his full height, the weak sunlight setting his hair ablaze with orange flame as he cast a sad look over his beloved little brothers.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, I promise," John murmured before shedding his jacket and handing it to the boys. He felt far more comfortable leaving if he knew they were warm and dry.

His wings expanded catching the wind with ease as with a powerful stroke he lifted off the ground, eyes narrowed in determination. ' _I'll make you proud of me Scotty, I promise_ '.

* * *

There was rough hand shaking him, attempting to pull him from his comforting darkness of sleep.

"Scott wake up," A distant voice called.

Scott did NOT want to wake up. Instead he kept his eyes tightly shut and his mind slipped and slid towards sleep again. A hand was at his chest, a fist rubbing across his sternum, causing him to groan in discomfort.

"I know you don't like it Scott but you must wake up!"

Scott blinked open his eyes slowly, the blurry image of Jeff's face filling his sight, Virgil's muscled form soon joining his adoptive father's.

"Gordon, Alan and John are missing Scott, and it's raining buckets out there!"

Immediately he was sitting up and tearing the covers off, wings flaring out as panic seized him.

"Tell me all you know, now".

* * *

It had begun to rain steadily as he left the island.

Without his rain proof jacket John found himself shivering, his teeth chattering uncontrollably as he strained his wings as fast as they would beat. He pushed against the wind, cutting through the blowing gale with increasing difficulty as the beginnings of a storm brewed around him.

Lightning flashed to his left, causing him to swerve wildly, a startled scream falling from his pale lips.

His heart beat wildly as it slowed from his fright, limbs beginning to feel numb from the freezing rain battering against him.

He had no knowledge of how long it had been since he left, his mind was filled a mantra of panicked thoughts, wondering if no matter how fast he flew Alan could be crippled or worse…

He could barely see two feet in front of him through the rain filled clouds but he knew he had to be getting close, he prayed he was close.

Pulling his wins tights to his hips he dropped down beneath the clouds, scanning the churning seas and beyond for the lights of Tracy Island.

Sure enough his assumption was correct and he found himself pumping even more frantically, tears of desperation beginning to spill down his cheeks as the island grew even closer and he could make out three tiny figures moving in the living room. _Oh thank God_ …

As he grew closer he found himself shaking so terribly from the cold and fright that it caused his landing on the deck to be rather sloppy and he stumbled, falling to the wet concrete with a soft sob clawing its way out of his throat.

More tears followed as he attempted to get his arms under him and pushed, levering himself up in to a sitting position as the sound of panicked voices met his ears.

"John! John are you okay?" Scott's frantic voice called before his rugged up older brother dropped to his knees in front of him, raising his silver wings to keep off the worst of the falling rain.

John stared uncomprehendingly at him for a moment before he slumped forward to wrap his arms around Scott's chest, his sobs tearing a ragged hole in Scott's heart.

John said nothing but his sobs and shaking, frigid body told enough of a story that Scott knew something was wrong. He looked up to see Virgil and Jeff hovering close by, worried looks raw on their faces.

 _Where are Alan and Gordon? Oh John what happened? I know you look like you desperately need some comfort and some nice warm clothes and I hate to deny you but you need to tell us what's wrong…_

Scott wrenched his thoughts to the back of his mind before carefully pulling away from the tight hug John held him in, fighting back a low whine at the panicked sobs this issued _. I want to hold you too my baby but you need to tell us where the others are_.

"John, what happened to the others?" Virgil asked, his voice a picture of calm despite his frantic appearance.

John glanced up, his skin lily white in pallor and his face streaked with more tears than rain.

"T-the boys wanted to g-go exploring and I w-wanted to go so badly and we found an island but when he landed A-Alan's foot go stuck and he's in pain and I left Gordon to care for him w-while I went for help," John stammered through his sobs.

Scott was immediately filled with fear for his youngest siblings, a fear that stole his voice and left Jeff to continue with the logistics.

"John I know you're probably exhausted and cold but we need you to take us to the island where Alan and Gordon are so we can get them home," Jeff murmured gently.

John's teary gaze flooded with determination and he shakily regained his feet, spreading his wings out behind him as he prepared for yet another flight.

"I-I'll try".

* * *

 _ **Part Two will be released soon since tomorrow is my final exam. More prompts would be awesome!**_


	23. Safe and Sound part 2

Scott couldn't help but glance at his younger brother with concern in his sky blue gaze. John was fast, but judging by the laboured breathing and shaking limbs he had to have been flying at his record speeds to get back for help.

Scott focussed on keeping a close on John, making sure he was nearby if his red haired brother happened to get too tired to push on further. His focus was his way of keeping his terrified thoughts at bay. What if Alan was horribly injured? He had been worried out of his mind when Virgil had been injured months ago and he wasn't sure he could stomach another heartache.

The lashing rain and hurricane winds made it difficult for even the most experienced amongst their bedraggled group to fly, and he found himself pumping his wings harder as the wind picked up, lightning flashing every so often near them.

Soon John was perking up, eyes frantically scanning the horizon as he realised where they were. He whipped his head around to face his family, red hair plastered to his forehead and skin as white as snow.

'The island is just up ahead; the boys are on the clifftop!' he cried out.

Jeff pumped his immense white wings and pulled ahead with Virgil, trusting Scott to keep an eye of John's descent.

Immediately as they came in to sight of the uncharted island, they were able to spot the boys huddled miserably under John's jacket, Alan's leg caught in the shifted rocks and Gordon curled around him in a hug of comfort.

When their resident swimmer caught sight of his rescuers descending towards them he cried out excitedly and Jeff could see him pointing wildly in their direction as a pained Alan smiled shakily.

'See Alan! I told you they'd be here soon!' Gordon's faint voice could be heard reassuring.

Jeff and Virgil touched down on either side of the boys and were immediately throwing their wings up to shield the shivering duo from the worst of the pelting rain.

'How bad is it Alan? Do you think you've broken your leg?' Virgil asked calmly.

Alan shook his head, tears gathering in his bluebell eyes.

'No, I think I sprained my ankle though. Can you get me out?'

Jeff, who had been examining the rocks for the possibility of further damage if shifted, smiled comfortingly and put a warm hand on Alan's shoulder in support.

'They're not huge rocks that are blocking the hole, with a bit of muscle Virgil, Scotty and I will have them off you in a moment,' Jeff assured.

Gordon breathed out an audible sigh of relief that his brother wasn't grievously wounded or worse, trapped permanently. The arrival of Scott and John at his side only accentuated his relief.

'What can I do to help?' he asked.

Scott grinned sharply at the determination of his little brother and gestured to where John was watching over the proceedings with an anxious gaze.

'How about you keep Johnny company, Gordo? He looks like he could use of your hugs'.

Immediately Gordon was engulfing John in a shivering cuddle, finally able to cling to one of his protectors after such a long ordeal. The two of them watched as the rock pile blocking Alan's trapped leg was slowly shifted away with each armful until Alan squeaked excitedly and was able to shuffle awkwardly backwards, his leg finally freed from its imprisonment.

'You good there Allie?' John asked tentatively.

Allan nodded vigorously, a smile plastered on his lips now that he could move around again. His smile only grew when Virgil, after examining his ankle closely, declared it mildly sprained.

'You know what the cure for a sprain is kiddo? A warm nest of blankets and John' famous hot chocolate,' Virgil declared jokingly, before offering a hand to get Allan back on his feet.

'I think we'll all be in need of a hot drink once we get out of this weather. Come on, the quicker we leave the quicker we get dry!' Jeff declared, his white wings stretching out to their full size.

With one powerful thrust he was in the air, ready to support Allan if necessary. There was an audible trill of relief when the hybrids found themselves facing the lights of Tracy Island, especially from Scott who had noticed John falling behind slightly as the weather grew worse. His baby had to be tired from the panicked flight for rescue and the long flight back after. He had never flown this much in his life, especially during bad weather.

As his legs extended towards the flight deck, and his sneakers gently touched down on the wooden boards, Scott found himself whirling around sharply at a loud thud from behind.

John was slumped forward, like a puppet with his strings cut. His wings lay limply splayed in the pooling water as he shivered pathetically.

'Jeff! Virgil!' Scott warned as he skidded to kneel beside John's crumpled form.

Up close his brother looked worse, with blue lips and almost translucent skin. His eyes were open wide but staring off at absolutely nothing.

'Hey Johnny, you mind looking at me buddy?' Scott asked softly, trying to sound as calm as he could manage.

John's gaze remained fixed on the distance, giving no sign he had heard Scott at all. Virgil and Jeff crouched to join him beside John's inert form, worried frowns of identical nature etched on their faces.

'He's not responding to me,' Scott reportedly, voice wavering at the realisation that something could be very wrong with his baby brother.

Virgil leant to take John's pulse as Jeff cradled John's cheek in his palm, trying to the get the boy to look him in the eye, or register any awareness.

'He's freezing, pulse is slow, not responding. We need to get him inside and into the infirmary now,' Virgil muttered cautiously.

Scott gently scooped up John's form, cradling his head against his neck so he could feel the soft exhales John let out, assuring himself that he was in fact breathing. _Please let my brother be okay_.

An hour later Virgil and Jeff had run as many test as they possibly could, and all had pointed to one key problem.

'He's exhausted. I don't mean he's just a little tired, he used up all his energy in the flight to find help and his reserves are depleted,' Jeff announced to the anxious group of boys huddled around Alan's bedside.

Across the room John lay curled on his side, wings tucked in under his blanket and eyes still eerily staring at nothing. Thankfully his cheeks now had a healthy colour to them and his lips had regained their former colour after John had been warmed.

Scott still grimaced at the sight of the IV line snaking out of his arm and those dead eyes.

'He'll rest for a few days and be back on his feet. Apparently John now faints with his eyes open,' Virgil commented, a genuine smile on his face now that he knew John wasn't in danger.

Scott's sharp eyes managed to spot a slight shiver from his brother and immediately he was creeping over to the gurney and laying himself down beside John. The redhead still fit perfectly against his chest, much like he did when they were captives, and John's sleepy sigh

of contentment was enough to melt Scott's heart.

'Sleep tight buddy, you're safe and sound right here with me'.


End file.
